Messages in Dreams
by Tsukiko AlienWitch
Summary: Three years after the TMM battle, the aliens come back right when a terrible accident occures. Now Kisshu can't control his hunger and Ichigo is getting strange dreams as a cry for help. Can she save him before it's too late? But why her?
1. Bloodlust

**A/N: Hey guys!!**

**Taruto: Hey you! What's the deal with letting this story out?**

**Tsukiko: I'd finally finished this chapter so don't get cranky at me.**

**Pai: You haven't completed your other stories that are in need of your attention.**

**Tsukiko: I know, I know. But I've been in the vampire mood lately and I really, really want to unleash another blood-sucking, gothic romance story. 'True Love is Right In Front of You, Ichigo' does not count because it only has a small bit of vampirism. This one is full of it.**

**Kisshu: That's only because I'm the one acting all-**

**-I quickly cover his mouth-**

**Tsukiko: Shush! I don't want to spoil the story. –Because I'm right in front of him and I'm staring directly at his face, I end up fainting again- Oh my heart. –faints-**

**Kisshu: Ahh!! The writer again!!**

**Taruto: I don't even care anymore. And what is she talking about? 'The Kyuuketsuki' is a vampire story.**

**Kisshu with a fan: Yeah but she writes that story when she's in 'The Mummy' mood.**

**Taruto: Now you're defending her just because most of her stories revolve around you?! -Kisshu chuckles from that- You selfish jerk!!**

**Pai: The writer here does NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies she uses in her stories. She only comes up with the ideas and the changes. In this story, she is going to use a lot of songs from the album 'Collide' from a human band known as Skillet. She claims to love the lyrics of the music. In case you get confused, this chapter happens before the Tokyo Mew Mew battle. The writer appreciates your reviews for her stories and she wishes for them to continue coming. Enjoy.**

**Taruto: You forgot to say 'thanks'.**

**Pai: I don't say 'thank you' to humans.**

**Taruto: You say that to Lettuce and is she not a human?!!**

**Messages in Dreams**

Ch. 1: Bloodlust

"Damn humans!!" the young alien screams. He falls to his knees after slamming the wall as angry tears leaked out of his eyes. He swears, "They're all dead! All of them!! Look what they've done to this planet!!"

The oldest alien tells him, "I can see it clearly, Taruto and I understand your anger but control your it. Deep Blue-sama will help us gain back what is rightfully ours."

Taruto only stayed where he was as he continues to growl in pure hatred for the humans who have tainted the once beautiful planet. The second oldest alien in their little three-alien group, was silent for a moment. He stared at the one image of the corrupted earth a bit longer, controlling his emotions for a bit. He soon smiles in excitement.

"Interesting, huh?" he asks them. Both of his companions look at him as he says, "For a moment I thought the mission was going to be boring but look at what these humans can do. Maybe we can have some fun while we take earth back."

Pai warns, "Kisshu, don't even joke about it. We need to get earth back at all costs. Time is slipping and every second could mean a lost life on our planet." The mention of their kin made Kisshu's features flinch for a bit but he still has his smirk on his face.

Ignoring what Pai just said, he notes, "Earth has things called animals and maybe we could use that to our advantage. What if we turned Mother Nature against the humans like how Mother Nature has turned against us?"

Pai completely faces him and says, "For once, you have thought of something that can be useful."

"I'm not as stupid as you two believe," Kisshu says with a tiny hint of acid in his voice.

Taruto stood up and wiped away the tears that still lingered on his cheek. He asks them, "Should we look study these animals and see which ones can be used to destroy human kind?"

"That's our first step of our mission but we can't start anything big until Deep Blue-sama has awaken," Pai reminds. Now Kisshu looks bored.

"But that's not fair and no fun."

"Kisshu, we are not here for fun and games. We are here on a mission. Get serious for our clan's sake."

Kisshu's eyes narrowed and they became deadly. He tells Pai, "I am always serious, Pai. Only when I need some spice in my life do I pretend like these things are fun." He said the last part with a devil's smile.

n-n-n

"Ah crap!" Kisshu swears looking at the mess at his feet. On the ground are files of the animals of earth with a picture of the animal, the history, and their DNA. He was taking them to Pai to research when they began to fall to the ground. Now he's on his knees picking them up.

'_This is way too boring,'_ he thinks as he's picking them up. _'Why can't we ever do anything exciting? How long have we been researching about these beasts? One…two months? And Pai tells me not to waste time on saving our clan.'_ Then he picks up one file that has a very interesting name. He's now staring at one file that reads 'Vampire Bats'. _'Vampire?'_ Kisshu stands up and stares at the file as he wonders, _'What's this?'_ Somehow the name calls to him, urging him to look.

So he does. Kisshu opens the file and begins to skim through it. The file reads:

_Vampire bats are bats that feed on blood to survive, a dietary trait known as hematophagy. They feed solely at night and because of the thermoreceptors on its nose, the vampire bat is able to locate areas of where the blood flows close to the skin of the chosen victim, usually cows or horses. Their front teeth are sharp enough to cut the skin as their back teeth are smaller than the front teeth. Their digestive system is capable to their liquid diet and their saliva contains a draculin substance to prevent the blood from clotting. A part of their brain, known as inferior colliculus is able to detect the breathing sounds of sleeping animals._

'_Blah, blah, blah,'_ Kisshu thinks. _'What's so special about this blood-sucking mammal?'_ When he turns the page, he then sees something special.

_The feeding and the creature itself has inspired books and horror movies of the mythical creature vampire – a blood sucking creature of hell with the form of a beautiful mortal that feeds on the blood of the living to survive. Books, such as 'Dracula', tell terrifying tales of these creatures killing humanity and striking fear into the hearts of mortals. These demons usually have long sharp fangs, like the vampire bat, to cut the skin of humans and blood red eyes when feeding._

'_Blood red eyes…'_ Kisshu uses one hand to gently touch the side of his eye and then his fangs when he thinks, _'And long sharp canines.'_

Even though he does not possess red eyes, there are times when he's really into a fight and his eyes would turn red. But that is common for anyone in his kind. He also saw the dental records of humans and noticed that compared to them, besides the big ears, their canines are longer and sharper than humans. As the file continues about the creature 'vampire', it explains on how there are people terrified of these beautiful, sinful beings. So if humans are terrified of them and vampires usually kill their victims and he needs to kill humans, nothing sounds more interesting than this. But he tasted blood before. It tastes like iron and not at all luscious for his liking.

'_I need to make some adjustments.'_

Kisshu takes the DNA sample of the vampire bat and closes the files. He puts the DNA away and picks up the other files that were still resting on the floor. After he got them all, he carries them to Pai, who's probably going to lecture him for taking so long to get the files of animals T-Z.

n-n-n

"No…please, no!"

But Kisshu ignores the pleading cry of the human. He lifts up the frightened woman and he exposes her neck. She stares shaking as he opens his mouth to reveal his long, hungry fangs. She screams, "No!!" Then he chomps on her neck and she became silent. Her eyes widen from the pain of his fangs tearing her skin and him sucking on her living blood. Moments after he began sucking her blood, her eyes began to dull with death and they close for the last time. His arms held her limping body closer and his fingers dig deeper into her flesh. When he opened his eyes, his teeth still inside her, they were red. Completely blood red from the thrill of the chase and the feeling of her heart pulsing and stopping. He loved the feeling of her heart pulsing fast with fear and then slowly stops and he loved the fact that he was the one who stopped it.

After he took the DNA sample from the vampire bat file, he began to think like Pai, which was very rare. He came up with a formula with the vampire bat's DNA to infuse with his own. He did that without Pai or Taruto's knowing and he became the first alien to try it. He gave himself a shot of his new formula and gave it a try, a few nights ago. The his fangs tore the skin of the humans and his eyes become red when he fed, like the vampire in movies and books and the DNA helped him want the taste. He yearn for the taste of blood and the DNA even helped with his digestive system to be compatible with his new liquid diet.

"K…Kisshu?"

Kisshu tore himself away from his dead victim and looked up to see both Pai and Taruto, shocked beyond disbelief as the body fell to the ground. His comrades first stared at the dead human on the ground and then look back at him. Kisshu still has his red eyes and now he has blood leaking from the corner of his mouth and down to his chin. Instead of feeling angry or surprised that he's been caught, Kisshu smiles.

"Hi, guys!" he greets as he stands up. "You guys just missed all the action. This human can run fast in heels but I caught her and she ended up twisting her ankle after crashing into a trash can. She ran a good five blocks."

Then Pai snaps back from his shock phase and glares at Kisshu. "Kisshu, what have you done to yourself? We don't feed on human blood."

Kisshu doesn't get affected by Pai's icy words. "I infused my DNA with a vampire bats," he answered.

"Vampire bats?!" Taruto exclaims.

"Yep! Vampire bats feed on blood and from the myths and legends of humans, vampires feed on their blood to survive. The file even explained that humans fear these creatures."

"Kisshu!" Pai called, sternly. "I told you not to do anything until Deep Blue awakens."

"But waiting for him is so boring. We've wasted two months researching on the animals of this planet when our mission is to destroy them and claim earth for our clan. How is just researching going to help us?!" Pai's eyes widen from that as Taruto gasps in surprise. He's right. "Sure, researching started what I've become but the actions I made killed about fifteen humans in five days. If you both cooperate with me, then I'll give you these." He went to his pocket and showed them two shots of the liquid he made with the vampire bat's DNA. They stare at it as he adds, "If I kill three humans a night, how many humans can we kill in a week or two months?! At least doing this is of better use of our time."

Pai and Taruto took a moment longer to stare at the two shoots in Kisshu's hand. If they take that, then they will become a blood-thirsty being Kisshu is now. Pai looks back at Kisshu and he was going to object but Taruto cuts in.

"I'll take it!" he declares. Kisshu smirks at his decision as Pai looks at Taruto in surprise.

"Taruto!"

Taruto turns to Pai and yells, "Kisshu has a point, Pai! All we've been doing is research, research, research while our kind is dying. At least doing this is more useful than sitting on our lazy butts while someone on our planet dies! I'll get my hands dirty for them!" Before Pai could stop him, Taruto goes to Kisshu and snatches one shot. He then plunges it into his wrist, into a vein and injects the liquid as quickly as he can. He winced from the uncomfortable feeling of the liquid entering him and Kisshu blinks in surprise of him moving so fast and he so quickly took the formula.

When the liquid was gone, Taruto pulls the shot from his wrist and on the ground. Blood squirted from his wrist and all of a sudden, Taruto's head feels really hot and hazy. He can smell the blood on his wrist and he wanted it. He bends down to his wrist and licks the blood right off. He felt so much better from the taste and he felt so much relief. He lets out a contented sigh as the taste still lingers in his mouth. Kisshu is staring at him in surprise as Pai is staring in shock.

When Taruto looks back at Pai, his eyes are red and his fangs are even longer. "What about you?" he asks. "How strong is your dedication to saving your clan?" Pai closes his mouth and he only stares at Taruto, taking his words in as truth.

From his silence, Kisshu got serious. He told him, "Pai! These humans deserve to die. Look what they did to this planet! This one beautiful planet is turning into a waste land because of humans like her." He points to the dead human by his feet. "I'm not ashamed at all of taking her life."

After that, Pai closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. Both Taruto and Kisshu wait patiently as he opens his eyes and says, "Pass me the shot." Kisshu grins and tosses him the shot.

"Good choice."

Pai catches the shot and he didn't hesitate to inject the liquid inside of him. Instead of being so reckless as Taruto was, Pai injected the formula carefully in his veins and he took the shot out without a single drop of blood leaking out. But the smell of blood on Kisshu's face caused Pai's eyes to turn red. He wanted the blood but he told Kisshu, "Wipe your mouth."

Kisshu used the back of his hand to wipe the blood away and he licks the blood of his hand. He's his carefree self again as he says, "Since it's your first night out, how about I lead you both to a party this human left from? Since you both just started, I figure you two are extra hungry."

n-n-n

"**Last night, the blood-sucking murder has struck again but this time he took his killing to the extreme as a party of college students were brutally massacred at a sake club. No one was left alive as the bartender and the manager have also been killed by this murder. The police have also found the same two new saliva samples that have been discovered five days after the murders began. Who is the one who started this blood-sucking murders? Is he influencing more to join this monstrous act? What do they want and why are they killing innocent people at random? Is this the work of an actual vampire or a vampire want-a-be's?"**

After that, the screen went blank and both Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto look away in shame. All three of them are bowing in front of an empty throne chair, surrounded by tall pillars and flouting bubbles of all sizes. Then they hear a voice.

"Which one of you wishes to explain this?"

This is the voice of their lord, Deep Blue.

Taruto looks up and says, "Master Deep Blue, please forgive us. But we took action out of consideration for our clan."

Pai adds, "We promised to wait for your awakening but we're restless. Every second that goes by could be a life on our planet ending."

"If you wish to punish someone, then please punish me." Taruto and Pai look at Kisshu and he appears unafraid. "I was the one who started this and convinced Pai and Taruto to assist me."

"Why should I punish either of you?" their master asks. Now they are shock as they look at the empty throne where the voice is coming from. "My awakening is taking longer than we have hoped and I wish to save our clan as any of you. However, I do not approve of this method. How long have you three both been feeding on these humans?"

Pai answers, "Two weeks, Master Deep Blue."

"And how many humans have you killed?"

"136 humans," Taruto answers.

Kisshu adds, "We devoured ten more last night, master."

Deep Blue says, "Although the numbers are great, the method of killing them is too slow. There are billions of humans on this planet and hundreds are born each day. By the time all of them have been slaughtered, our clan will be annihilated or you won't be finished at all." When he said that, Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto look at him in confusion. What is that supposed to mean?

"I want you three to stop drinking their blood and I want you three to use your time resisting on finding a different way to destroy them. I will be awakened soon but I at least want half of the humans to be killed before then. Kisshu!"

"Yes?" he answers.

"For being honorable in taking the blame for your actions, I will give you the privilege of attacking earth first once you have contained yourself of consuming blood."

Kisshu bows his head and says, "Thank you, Master Deep Blue."

"Now, leave!"

"Yes!"

After that, the three aliens teleported away to get to work. They first tried to contain themselves when blood is spilt but it took weeks before they could hold themselves from drinking that blood. However, Kisshu took the shortest time to recover.

n-n-n

"…**Who Who is the one who started this blood-sucking murders? Is he influencing more to join this monstrous act? What do they want and why are they killing innocent people at random? Is this the work of an actual vampire or a vampire want-a-be's?"**

When Ichigo Momomiya sees this on the TV screen of her home, she pulls her legs closer to her body and holds the pillow closer in fear. She mumbles, "Scary. This is totally scary!"

"Ichigo!!"

Ichigo looks up, over her shoulder to look at her mom as she tells her daughter, "Dinner is ready."

"Okay!" she yells back. Then she turns to the TV and grabs the remote. She turns the TV off and gets off the couch to eat dinner.

Sakura Momomiya, the mom sits down at the table of food and Ichigo comes to sit down after her. They both clasp their hands together and say, "Itadakimasu!" Then they began to eat.

Sakura tells Ichigo, "Your father is coming late so it's just you and me tonight."

"Okay," Ichigo answers, taking some of the pickles to put on her bowl of rice. Then she asks, "Mom! Did you find out when that Endangered Species Exhibit is opening up?"

Sakura asks, "You mean the one of the Red Data animals?"

Ichigo nods. "Yeah."

"My friend told me that it's opening up in about a month since most of the workers have been killed by that blood-sucking murder." Instead of pouting like a disappointed, impatient teenager, Ichigo's skin crawls at the reminder of the blood-sucking murder. "Have the police caught that murderer?"

"Murderers, mom," Ichigo corrects. "And no they haven't. Only that they killed a whole club worth of people."

"Oh my god," she breathes out, now unable to eat her sashimi. "I hope they catch them soon."

'_I hope so too,'_ Ichigo thinks. _'Otherwise, I'll never get the chance to ask Masaya out!'_


	2. Cry for Help and First Dream

**A/N: Hello again, everyone!!**

**Ryou: You know, you're really slow when it comes to finishing stories.**

**Tsukiko: You're so mean!!**

**Keiichiro: Ryou, please. She's trying her best.**

**Ryou: She started a new story and now she's unleashing another chapter for it when she still has other stories that are way over due. 'You're a Girl' for example.**

**Tsukiko: I would be expecting the bit surprise in the next chapter to thrill Kisshu! Not you!**

**Kisshu: Did someone call me? –Tsukiko faints at the sight of him- Not again!!**

**Ryou: Why should I care now? She's going to faint every time she sees him anyway.**

**Keiichiro: Tsukiko-san does NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies she uses in her stories. Thank you all for the delightful reviews and please keep them coming. She gets really inspired when she gets them. She also hopes that you like this chapter. Thank you and please enjoy.**

**Kisshu: Can someone help me out here?!! She's really heavy to carry!!**

Ch. 2: Cry for Help and First Dream

Three years later…

"Wow! Tokyo hardly changed!" Kisshu exclaims as soon as him and his comrades arrive at the city.

From the alley, he sees the citizens of Tokyo walking around on the streets of the city. Some of the people are just cruising around while looking through the windows of shops, some are rushing to catch the bus, some are crossing the streets when the walking signal came on, some are riding bikes home, and some are screaming for a taxi to get home.

It's been three years since the great Tokyo Mew Mew battle, a battle that determined the fate of humanity and a battle between four aliens and five girls. After being defeated and their leader killed, the aliens, Kisshu, Pai, and Taruto, left without complaint and on good terms with the five mew mew girls. They learned that humans are not as bad as they believed and they learned how similar they really are to each other. Before they left, one human, Ryou Shirogane gave the aliens a substance known as Mew Aqua. A substance so powerful, it cured their planet of the terrible weather conditions they have lived through for centuries. Now it's been three years of peace and the three aliens have missed the planet earth and its fascinating humans.

The three aliens are now standing in alley way to hide from the humans so that they can watch them from a closer view. The oldest of them is Pai. He appears to be about nineteen years old now. He's taller compared to three years ago and he's a bit more buffer. He has hard built muscles on his body and no fat what so ever. He has short purple hair but the hairs in front of his left ear are shoulder length and are wrapped completely by a green bandage. His skin is still pale and his dark purple eyes gaze blankly at the humans on the streets.

Kisshu is the second oldest. He must be fifteen or sixteen now and he's grow as well. His muscles on his body are not as buff as Pai's but he's very well toned. His skin is as pale as the moon and his short dark emerald green hair compliments it. But similar to Pai's look, the hair strands in front of both of his big elf like ears are shoulder length and are tied by a dark maroon bandage, almost like how a dark rubber band holds his hair. Unlike the emotionless Pai, Kisshu's emerald golden eyes stare at the humans in excitement and a bit of happiness.

The last and youngest of their three some group is Taruto. He's possibly ten or eleven years old and he's a lot taller than he was three years ago. Possible four or six more inches than back then. He has some muscles on his body but he's still a growing boy. He just doesn't have fat on his body since he's been working during his three years away. Unlike Pai's and Kisshu's hair look, his is different. His short light brown hair is up in two pony tails, one on both sides of his head. His skin is pale white like his friends but unlike his friends, his dark golden eyes stare at the humans in a hint of anger and annoyance.

"Why are we back here?" he asks. "I never wanted to come back here because this place still smells like car exhaust and I don't think that pile behind us is someone's fallen chocolate ice cream.

Pai reminds, "You were the one that whined the most about coming back." Taruto tenses up from that reminder.

"And if I remember correctly," Kisshu adds in, "you were the one that kept going, 'When are we going back to earth? Didn't we promise to visit those mews?' Next time before you start complaining, thinking about why we're here."

Taruto is blushing with embarrassment. He's been beat. "Well I don't know why we desperately had to look at these humans. We could have come tomorrow and look at them from the sky."

Kisshu turns to him and reminds with a smile, "Tomorrow, we promised that we were going to go to the café and surprise the Mew Mews. I wanted to have a look around earth to see how these humans have kept their promise on keeping this planet clean. If memory serves, the air smells a lot fresher now than it did back then and there are a lot more people walking and biking home instead of using cars."

Pai bends over and picks up a newspaper on the ground. "But some of them are still littering."

"Let's be grateful that they did something instead of nothing at all. Besides, I think I see a recycling bin across the street, full of cans and bottles."

Taruto looks at Pai and says, "He's just trying to use every excuse to tell us that the humans are forever perfect."

"Not everyone is perfect," Pai agrees.

Kisshu has a vein pulsing on his head. "Can you two please stop treating me like an idiot and enjoy this little vacation?" he asks.

_Shriek!!_

Hearing that, the three aliens look back at the streets, along with many other people, and they see a car going wildly out of control. People begin to scream as the car ends up heading for a corner of a store across from where the aliens are. Everyone watches helplessly as four teenage girls are right at that corner. Everything was going too fast for anyone to move. But the last thing anyone heard before the car crashed was the sound of the man inside the car screaming and the four girls screaming at the top of their lungs.

_Crash_

"Oh my god!!" someone finally screamed. The mothers turn their children away from the terrible accident as many people began to call for help. Many others began to run to the scene.

"Someone call 911, hurry!!"

"Mieko!! My daughter, NO!! MIEKO!!"

"We need an ambulance, hurry!"

There was no need for an ambulance because the girls and the driver are all dead. The man inside hit his air bag but because of his speed and the force of the crash caused him to bang his head on the wheel and crack his head open. Blood dripped down from his open skull. The four girls that were crushed leaned on the once white car, staining it red with their own blood. Blood drips from their mouth, their eyes dull with death, and their lower halves crushed. The rusty, ivory smell of their blood begins to linger in the air and it blows by as the wind began to blow.

Taruto and Pai smell that blood and cover their noses from the smell. It disgusts them as Kisshu can smell it too. Taruto tells his friends, "Let's get out of here before someone sees us." Pai nods in agreement but no answer came from Kisshu.

He just stands there, staring at the bloody scene before him. His eyes widen from the sight of the blood and his nose takes in the disgusting, luscious smell of blood. He heard everything. The sound of the car crashing into the building, the sound of bricks falling, the sound of metal snapping, and the sound of bones breaking. His stomach begins to fill up with butterflies and his body shakes. Deep down, he loved the sound of their bones crushing and he loved the smell of their blood flowing out of their bodies and for him to smell and desire.

"Kisshu?" Taruto calls. "Didn't you hear me? We have to go." But he still did not move.

The sound of the ambulance is now being heard.

Flashes of red began to appear and they light up the streets of Tokyo. As soon as the trucks arrive, the men pop out and began to work. As they made the people clear out of the way and one of them checks the bodies for a possible survivor, their lights still blink red.

Red…

As the smell begins to get to him, that color is all Kisshu's sees. His mouth is filled with saliva and he begins to pant. When he opened his mouth, two long sharp canines appear. He wants that blood. He wants the taste in his mouth, he wants the warm blood flowing through him, and he wants the last remains of its heat in his body. Soon, he couldn't control the urge.

"B-Blood…" he mumbles.

Pai and Taruto heard him and their eyes widen in fear. Kisshu takes a step towards the scene and that was all Pai and Taruto needed to grab him and pull him deeper in to the alley.

When they pull him away, his body begins to shake violently. All three of them are on the ground, Pai and Taruto on their knees as they stare down at Kisshu's position as he's lying on the floor. His eyes are even wider now and he's gritting his teeth together. They see his long canine fangs and they begin to panic.

"Kisshu, get a hold of yourself!!" Pai yells.

Taruto screams, "Don't give in, you dummy!!"

But it was too late. Kisshu's eyes widen even more and they turn red. He snapped.

Before Pai or Taruto knew it, they were thrown back. Kisshu used super speed movement to push them off. Taruto crashes into the wall on the left and Pai crashes into the wall on the right. When they look back up, Kisshu is already gone.

n-n-n

"Aw, man! I'm beat!" Ichigo whines.

It's the evening and Ichigo Momomiya is walking home after another tiring and unbelievably busy day at the café. Shouldn't be too surprising. It's summer time and the café is at its busiest during this season and during summer time, it also means longer hours. Ichigo is finally free but she's exhausted and can't wait to go home and have a nice long bath.

Ichigo Momomiya, the formal Tokyo Mew Mew leader. Ichigo was thirteen years old when her DNA was infused with the DNA of a iromote cat and she had to become a super hero to save the world from aliens, her along with her four friends – snobby Mint Aizawa, clumsy Lettuce Midorikawa, hyper Pudding Fong, and cold but fabulous Zakuro Fujiwara. Now Ichigo is about sixteen years old, she's taller compared to three years ago, and she has defiantly become more feminine. Her chest has gotten bigger but not as big and she has curves now. Her hair is longer than it was back then but it's still up in its two high pony tails with red ribbons tied in bows. Her skin is a bit tan from going to the beach and her dark red eyes appear angry from the remembrance of the day.

She thinks bitterly as she walks home, _'Just because it's summer time and we have to work longer, doesn't mean that I have to do all the work! That stupid Mint did nothing but drink tea all day, Pudding broke one third of the dishes because of her acts, Lettuce broke half of the amount of dishes, and Zakuro was totally cold to the customers. To make it worst, that stupid Ryou cuts my pay just because I talked back to him! He better start wising up or I'll quit! I mean it this time!'_ Then she remembers something.

"Hold on!" she mutters. She stops walking as well as she remembers, _'Tomorrow's my day off! And that means I have a date with my boyfriend, Masaya. My god! That just brightened up my day.'_ Now Ichigo is flashing her pearly white teeth in a happy smile as she remembers her super hot and gentle boyfriend, Masaya Aoyama.

Then the wind blows.

The wind hits her face like a sudden punch and it's a hard one. The wind hit the tree beside her and blows off green leaves from the branches. Ichigo closes her eyes from the wind and tries to move her hair from hitting her face.

"Where did the wind come from?" she asks.

"Ichigo."

Ichigo opens her eyes and looks to the side where she heard her name.

"Huh?"

When Ichigo looks to the side, a leaf gets in front of her vision and reveals someone she hasn't seen in so long. Her eyes widen when she sees Kisshu only a few feet away from her.

How long has it been? Two…three years since she last saw him? And now he's standing right there, before her in the same outfit he's always worn. His shirt is baggy and short with a turtle neck collar. The shirt exposes his midriff and it looks really gorgeous. Besides the hard muscles she can see on his arms and legs, Kisshu looks like he might have a six pack on him. His pants still hang on his hips and they just barely reach his knees. His shins and his arms are still wrapped by dark red bandages like the bandages on his hair and he has two long black ribbons sticking out from behind his pants. But besides the clothes and the muscles Kisshu has on, Ichigo notices his fearful expression. His eyes are wide and full of fear and his bottom lip is quivering, like he's scared of something. But what?

When Ichigo sees his lips, they mouth something.

'_Ta-su-ke-te?'_ Ichigo wonders. _'Help?'_

Then Kisshu takes a step forward and cries, "Ichigo, help me!" Her eyes widen more but before she could do anything, another leaf gets in front of her vision. When it blew away, Kisshu was gone.

"What…" Ichigo mutters as the wind begins to die, "was that…?"

Was Kisshu really there? Was he only an illusion, created by her mind?

If he was, Ichigo would probably imagine him more like his carefree, teasing self. His terrified expression and his plead still remain inside Ichigo's head as the wind blows again, taking all of the fallen leaves with it.

n-n-n

"**Tonight has become the second night in a row a body was found in Tokyo park completely drained of blood. This time, the victim was a male in his early twenties. The citizens of Tokyo have already concluded the return of the blood-sucking murders from three years ago. However, only one unknown DNA sample of saliva has been recovered and only one victim has been found so possibly only one has returned. Or someone is copying the blood-sucking murder."**

"I hope not for either of the choices," Sakura mumbles, watching the TV as she was putting away dinner.

Both Ichigo and Shintaro, sitting on the coach, look up at her from over their shoulders and Shintaro agrees, "Me neither. Things have finally quiet down after hundreds were killed three years ago, before the Mew Mews appeared."

Ichigo looks at her dad and asks, "Hundreds?!"

Sakura answers, "Yes. Don't you remember, Ichigo? It happened a week before school started and it caused the construction of the Endangered Species Exhibit to slow down because most of the workers were killed. You were upset because you so desperately wanted the exhibit to open before then."

'_Oh yeah,'_ Ichigo things, looking back at the TV. As she watches the TV newscaster report more facts of the blood-sucking murderer case, her mind wonders. _'I tried to forget about that since it was so terrifying. Not to forget that thanks to becoming a Mew Mew and protecting the planet, it never really crossed my mind.'_

"_**Ichigo, help me!"**_

'_Kisshu…'_ Ichigo's eyes narrow at the remembrance of his cry and his pleading expression. _'Was he really there? And what did he mean by 'help me'?'_

Then Shintaro comments, "Looks like to me, you can't go on your date with your boyfriend tomorrow." Ichigo snaps back from her thoughts and she got angry.

"Dad!!" she yells, standing up from the couch to face him. "If this murderer is anything like what happened three years ago, then he will only attack at night! Masaya and I are going out during the day!!"

"I know but knowing you, you would want to stay out all night."

She turns red. "What do you take me for, dad?! I can't believe you even said that!!"

n-n-n

"Geeze!!" Ichigo exclaims falling on her bed in her night clothes. "I can't believe he would say that! Masaya and I have been playing safe as if dad's right over our shoulders. He respects me and I respect him for respecting me."

'_However,'_ Ichigo begins to think. A small smile appears on her face and her cheeks blush as she thinks, _'It would be nice if we can take our relationship to the next level.'_ She flips over to her backside and breathes out, "Masaya, I'm ready. Take me away." Then she giggles and sleep took over her. Her eyes close and her smile still appears on her face as her breathing goes to normal and her heart beats with joy. Her mind is blank as sweet sleep takes over.

But instead of sweet dreams about her gorgeous prince charming, she has a blank sleep. No images or anything. However, she does hear something. She hears a song. She has no images of it but it feels like the lyrics are appearing right in front of her. All she sees is darkness and she hears only the words of the song, the pounding drums, and the screaming guitars.

_Forsaken__ by Skillet_

_I __recall going madly in love with you  
And I remember this  
How could I forget?  
Regret is a needle  
In my neck  
It's slowly filling me  
With poison  
Spreading to my chest_

Take my pain and numb me from this

Why do I have to beg  
When all that's left  
Is a memory  
Forsaken _[2x]___

I recall pledging my sole devotion to you  
It reminds me how  
Now I'm on my knees  
My guilt consumes  
Lost the will in me  
Wasting away before you  
Hold me closer please

Take my pain and numb me from this

Why do I have to beg  
When all that's left  
Is a memory  
Forsaken _[2x]___

Yeah, yeah, yeah  
You break me

Forsake  
You break me _[2x]___

You're breaking me

I recall going madly in love with you  
And I remember this... Tell me

Why do I have to beg  
When all that's left  
Is a memory  
Forsaken _[2x]___

Yeah, yeah, yeah  
Forsaken  
Yeah, yeah, yeah  
Tell me why, why, why, why

When the song was suddenly over, Ichigo woke up gasping in the middle of the night. She jumps up into a seating position and pants. Her body was filled with surprise and fear from her dream when she suddenly woke up. She's panting, out from her mouth and in through her mouth. Her chest rises up and down to the same rhythm of her pants and sweat drips down from her forehead. She still feels panic as she's trying to think.

'_What…was…that?'_

"Uh?"

When she looks down, she sees her soft, pink comforter on her body- warming her through the night. She picks it up and wonders, _'I didn't put this on when I went to bed, did I? Did mom put this on me?'_

What Ichigo didn't realize was that right outside her bedroom window, hiding behind the tree in her yard, someone is watching her with terrified, sorrow filled golden amber eyes.


	3. Mint Attacked

**A/N: Hi, hi everyone!!**

**Kisshu: Hold on! I cry in this?!**

**Mint: And I'm attacked?!**

**Tsukiko: Why is everyone such whiners around here? Geeze!**

**Ichigo: Well I'm content.**

**Tsukiko: At least someone is happy, but I still don't like you.**

**Ichigo: Then start making an OC story instead of using me and Kisshu as pairing.**

**Kisshu: Before we start a story fight, can we just say the usually author note?**

**Tsukiko: -sigh- Fine. Ichigo, you can say it since you're here.**

**Ichigo: Why thank you. –clears throat- Tsukiko does NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies she uses in her stories. She only comes up with the ideas. Everyone here appreciates your reviews and please keep them coming! Tsukiko knows that a lot of people read her stories and she would like a review for them. Thank you for the reviews so far though, for those who have been long devoted fans. Thank you and please enjoy, nya!!**

**Tsukiko: Enjoy everyone!!**

Ch. 3: Mint Attacked

It's quiet…

When Mint is walking home through the park, everything is quiet. The lights of the lamps are on and no one is around. The air is cold when the wind blows, causing Mint to shiver at its cold touch.

"Geeze!" she exclaims, annoyed. "The weather man said nothing about cold winds, especially during the summer."

Mint Aizawa, the second member of the Tokyo Mew Mew team. Three years ago, she was infused with the DNA of a Ultramarine Lorikeet and became a blue Mew Mew and she had to save the earth besides Ichigo. Back then, she was a bit of a snobby little rich girl and now, she still is snobby but matured. At work, instead of working overtime like Ichigo is, she sits down drinking tea and tells Ichigo what to do. Ichigo always yell at her but there is nothing she can say to make her help. Mint is a bit short but she has grown about two more inches compared to three years ago. She her smooth, soft white skin and she has really skinny arms and legs because of her ballet. Her short blue hair is up in two buns, one of both sides of her head and she has sweet chocolate brown eyes.

_Snap_

"Uh?" Mint lets out, looking behind her. There is nothing. "Ah, hello! Is someone there?" Mint asks, a bit annoyed. But all she hears is the wind howling. "Must have imagined it." Then she turns around and walks away as the sun begins to set on another day.

She continues to walk on home but a bad feeling is growing inside her. She's still walking straight but she feels like something is over her shoulder, something dark, something scary, something…monstrous.

Mint stops walking and she has a vein on her head. She turns around and screams, "Alright, who's there?! Come out now and maybe I'll let the police go easy on you!" But there was still nothing. Just an empty trail in the park and flickering park lights.

Mint flinches by the silence and she begins to feel fear. She steps back and thinks, _'Okay, this is really scary. What is this? A new scene for a horror film?'_

_Snap_

Mint hears that but now she hears it behind her, causing her heart to suddenly stop. Now she can feel something behind her and she's shivering. Her heart beats again but now it's pounding hard and hard, sending a pulse of fear and anxiety through her veins. She has to turn. She knows that. She has to see what's behind her. So very slowly and very terrified, she turns her head to look over her shoulder. Only to scream to what she sees behind her.

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Ugh!" Ichigo exclaims, sweeping. "Just because Mint has to go home early, they had to call me at home to come over to the café so that I could clean. Clean! This better give me a raise!"

But then Ryou tells her, "I told you that you could if you wanted to help." Ichigo jumps when she heard Ryou right behind her. She turns around, startled at the sudden appearance of her slave-driver boss.

Ryou Shirogane, a young man in his early twenties and he was the one who infused the five girls with DNA's of different endangered animals to create the team Tokyo Mew Mew. His father was the first to start the Mew Mew project and after a terrible accident that took the life of both of his parents, Ryou was able to finish it years later. Now that the excitement is over, he's simply a rich man who also owns the Café Mew Mew that the five formal mew mews are now working at, one of them is ready to blow. Ryou has short sunshine blond hair and bake bread brown skin. He's well built and his muscles actually have gotten a bit bigger compared to three years ago but he hasn't grown since he finished growing when he was eighteen. Finally, he has deep ocean blue eyes that, like the ocean, contain depths of sadness and pain from his past years of life.

Ryou doesn't seem surprise that Ichigo freaked out that he's right behind her. So he finishes telling her, "It was your choice to come here or not and you came. So no raise."

Ichigo got angry at that. She screams, "You're a monster!!"

"Ichigo-san," Lettuce called from behind with a mop in her hands. "Let's work hard now, okay?"

Lettuce Midorikawa, the third member of the formal Mew Mew team. Before she met her beloved friends, she was a shy and timid girl with no self confidence, but she still tried her best at making friends. Being part of the mew mew team helped her achieve the self confidence she needs to make it through the day and she ended up helping a lot of people, even though she doesn't know it. Lettuce has grown a bit since three years ago and she has become more feminine in body. Her hair is still long and it's in two braids. Her skin looks like fresh milk on a hot summer day and her eyes are lake blue.

Then Pudding appears and cheers, "Good luck, Ichigo onee-chan! Good luck, na no da!"

Pudding Fong and the four member of the formal Tokyo Mew Mew team. She's a hyper, a bit childish, and cheerful girl of ten or eleven. Even after three years, her attitude still hasn't changed but she's still a child. When she joined the Mew Mew team, she was trying to support five little siblings. She was collecting tip on the streets by doing acrobatic acts to put food on the table. Her father still hasn't returned from training in China but he sends money to help, but that money goes to things like school and hospital bills if necessary. She has short blond hair that's in four short braids, tree bark tan skin, and sweet chocolate brown eyes that are always so full of energy.

Last but not least the final member of the Tokyo Mew Mew team, Zakuro Fujiwara. Zakuro, besides working at the café, is an actress, singer, dancer, and model. She is what people would call a multitask person. At first, she didn't want to join the Tokyo Mew Mew team but changed her mind when these girls not only saved her life in front of live TV, they also call her a friend. Behind her cold nature, she's actually a very sweet and wise person. Like a model, she's tall and she's somewhere in her early twenties. She has long, glossy, raven hair that sparkle like black opals. Her dark eyes appear intelligent, yet sensitive like sapphires.

Ichigo continues to growl as she thinks, _'I should have fed him to a kirema anima when I had the chance.'_

The remembrance of a kirema anima reminds her once again of what happened at the park. Her eyes widen for a moment and then they narrow down when Kisshu's plea and his frightened expression comes back into mind.

Everyone notices her sad expression. Pudding goes up and asks, "What's wrong, na no da?" Hearing them, Zakuro looks up from wiping the table and looks at the sadden Ichigo.

"Hey, hey," Ryou calls. "Don't start pulling alligator tears on me because they won't work."

Ichigo shakes her head. "No, it's not that. Excuse me." Then she walks pass Ryou and continues sweeping.

Lettuce, Pudding, and Zakuro get closer to each other to talk and Lettuce asks, "Is there something wrong with Ichigo-san?"

"Maybe being called in to help clean after a date with Masaya onii-chan made her really upset, na no da. Ryou onii-chan should apologize, na no da."

Then Zakuro adds, "Ichigo is the kind of girl who would be happy through the entire day if it has something to do with Aoyama."

"So maybe something else?" Lettuce asks. "Something that happened earlier."

Zakuro nods. "Possibly."

Pudding looks like she's in deep thought until she snaps her fingers from an idea. "I know what would cheer her up, na no da!" Then she goes to her pocket and takes out a radio. "Ta da!! A radio, na no da! Music is the perfect cure, na no da!" Then she goes up to Ichigo. "Ichigo onee-chan!! Let's listen to some music, na no da!!" Ichigo looks at her in surprise of the sudden cheer as Pudding turns the radio on. But instead of music, they hear a newscast.

"**This just in! Another act of the blood-sucking murder has struck another victim but this victim is alive! Mint Aizawa lays in Tokyo hospital in critical condition; her blood nearly drained, cuts, and serious bruises."**

The moment the newscaster said the name, everyone's eyes widen in shock.

Lettuce cries, "Mint-san!!"

Ichigo yells, "We have to go to the hospital now!!"

Zakuro told them, "You three in my car, hurry!!" They didn't hesitate or even bother to change out of their work clothes. They just dropped their brooms, mops, or washing clothes and ran out the door. Ryou ran into the kitchen.

"Keiichiro!" he calls. He looks up as Ryou reports, "Mint's in the hospital. She's been attack by the blood-sucking murder." Keiichiro drops his dishes and both of them ran out of café.

At the hospital, the girls arriving first, ran to the emergency side. Ichigo didn't waste time asking as soon as she arrived at the front desk. "Where's Mint?!!"

The lady at the front desk pulls back from the sudden appearance of four girls, three of them in cute work clothes and Ichigo's sudden yell when she's suppose to be quiet for the other patients. But she gains back her composure and says, "Aizawa-san is in critical condition but she'll survive so please calm down."

"I didn't ask how she is!" Ichigo yells again. "I asked where she is!"

The front lady got a little snappy. "And I'm telling you that that Aizawa-san is breathing now because two young men brought her in before she got worst." Ichigo's eyes widen in confusion.

Pudding asks, "Who, na no da?"

"It's been three years and you still talk like that?"

All four girls tense up when they heard that voice. The front lady as well as them look up at the hallway and they see two guys at one door, but not just any guys. Pai and Taruto are there and they look human for their ears are hiding under a hat and they're wearing human clothes. Taruto is wearing a red shirt with three stripes of yellow, orange, and white as decoration. He has short jeans on and tennis shoes as well. Pai has a white buttoned shirt with the first three buttons unbuttoned and long black dress pants. He also has a body length coat on as well, which looks weird because it's summer. But their clothing didn't matter. What mattered was that the two aliens they haven't seen in three years are here and according to the lady at the front desk, they saved Mint. The Mew Mews stare at them in astonishment, well three of them. One of the mews turn red from the sight of Pai and the other looks like she's ready to cry.

"Taru-Taru?" Pudding asks in disbelief. Before she could control it, she runs up to him, "Taru-Taru!"

His eyes are wide from her running as she crashes into him and pushes him to the ground. "AAHHH!" The others blink in surprise, even Pai, as Pudding is crushing Taruto on the ground. Taruto is struggling to breathe. "Pudding! Get off!!"

"Taru-Taru!" she screams, holding on to him tighter. He grits his teeth from her tight hold until he hears something.

_Sniff_

_Sniff_

He looks down and he sees Pudding with tears coming from her eyes. She looks back up at him and asks, "Taru-Taru, what's going on, na no da?" Taruto's eyes turn tender at the sight of her tears.

Pai gains back his composure and coughs to get their attention. "Excuse me, but I believe a more private area will be appropriate for our talk." He looks up at the front desk lady and tells her, "These girls are the victim's friends. I believe they are allowed to see their friend."

After a moment's hesitation, the desk lady nods. "Alright but please keep it down for the other patients." Pai nods and motions his hand for the Mew Mews to fallow him. Pudding and Taruto stand up and they were going to follow him to the room that the aliens have been standing in front of, but they hear something.

"Everyone!"

The lady at the front desk collapses on her desk in irritation as both Ryou and Keiichiro enter the emergency room as well, screaming. The girls and the aliens turn to the front door and they see Ryou and Keiichiro shocked to see the aliens as well. Before anyone said anything, Pai quickly notes, "You two I believe are allowed to see Mint as well. She's unconscious but I think it's best you see her." Ryou and Keiichiro look confused, especially since the aliens are here, but Pai only turns around to enter the room and Taruto and Pudding didn't hesitate to follow him. The girls look at each other for a moment before deciding to enter. Ryou and Keiichiro follow as well.

Once everyone was inside the room, the mew mews gasp. In the room is Mint. She appears unconscious, like how Pai said. She has those breathing helping masks on her face, she's wearing hospital clothes, and her skin is very pale. There's barely any color on it, besides the color of the purple bruises on her body. Her hair is undone and is spread out on the white pillow like a dark blue shadow. When they see her, the mew mews, Ryou, and Keiichiro were horrified. Lettuce already has tears at the peak of her eyes and she covers her mouth in horror of her friend. The others have their eyes wide and their mouths just as big in shock of seeing their friend like this.

When all of them have entered, Pai closes the door and locks it. From the sound of the lock, the humans look at him and he takes his hat off, revealing his big elf like ears. "Now no one can disturb us." Seeing that it's safe, Taruto takes his hat off as well to reveal his ears. "Since Mint won't wake up for a while, we will tell you what we know and repeat it to her when she does, hopefully." The girls did not like the sound of that as Pai walks across the room to the window. He closes the window as well to keep the room completely hidden.

Then Ryou asks, angrily, "You two can start with why you two are here and why Mint is unconscious right now!"

Keiichiro places his hand on Ryou's shoulder to restrain him. "Ryou, please. They're probably here to help."

"We didn't plan on it, trust us!" Taruto tells them, walking over to Pai's side. Now the aliens are on one side of the room and the humans are on the other side. The only thing between them is Mint.

Then Pai confesses, "Kisshu has cracked and is now on a killing spree." At the mention of his name, Ichigo's eyes snap open and her heart skips a beat, but not in a good way. She gasps in surprise as the others stare at the aliens in confusion. Pai gets into more details. "Before we met you three years ago, Kisshu found an animal known as vampire bats and how they are an idol for the dark, mythical, creatures vampires. He infused himself with DNA of the vampire bat and tested his new powers by drinking the living blood from humans and killing over hundreds of them. You heard of the newscast then, right?" If possible, the humans' eyes could grow bigger. They do remember that broadcast, especially since it's appearing again. So the murder this whole time has been Kisshu? He killed hundreds of humans and is still killing them now after a three year gap? Didn't he realize that he almost made Mint a victim?

Then Taruto adds in, "Kisshu also made two extra formulas containing the vampire bat's DNA. He convinced us to take them and we did. We joined him in his hunger for blood. But we didn't drink the blood of humans out of thirst or hunger. We took it because we saw it as another way to destroy humans for what they've done to this planet. Kisshu enjoyed the killing and he enjoyed the blood. It was almost like the DNA made him an entirely different person when he was out on the hunt. It didn't take long for Deep Blue to tell us to stop." The Mew Mews flinch at the sound of his name but they continued to listen. "We obeyed since he said that the blood-sucking method was too slow. We all had a hard time to ignore it but Kisshu had the hardest. Even though he did, he took the least amount of time to recover. He should have spent more time controlling that part of him better but he was given the right to go back to earth first and he didn't want to disappoint Deep Blue with his 'slow' recovery."

"What awoken that terrifying monster inside of him was a crash not too long ago," Pai mentions, cutting in. "The one with the four human girls crushed and the one man with a cracked skull." The humans knew what he was talking about. They saw that in the newspapers and on TV. "Kisshu saw the blood and he saw the death. He couldn't control it and the monster was released."

"_**Ichigo, help me!"**_

'_So that was what he meant,'_ Ichigo thought as she remembers what happened in the park. _'Then that appearance wasn't an illusion. Kisshu was actually there and he was asking for my help.'_

Taruto explains, "When that monster is released, he only appears at night and takes the life of any unlucky human who crosses his path. The monster, thankfully, sleeps during the day and after he feeds. But that leaves Kisshu time to remember what he did and he suffers for it."

"How is that possible?" Ryou asks, hardly believing that.

Apparently, Zakuro is having a hard time as well. "You two did mention that he enjoyed the kill before."

Pai answers, "It's possible because he met the Mew Mews." The girls didn't expect that answer. "It's because he met you five that he hates it. You changed all of us but the one who mostly changed him was the love he had for Ichigo. He became a better person who appreciates all life because of her." Everyone stares down at Ichigo as she couldn't help but turn red. Who wouldn't after hearing that you were the cause of someone becoming a better person?

"Then…"

Everyone looks up at the one who started the sentence and they turn to Lettuce. She finishes, "Is Kisshu-san the cause of the new killings that have happened recently?"

Pai stares at her for a moment. Taruto doesn't say anything as Pai rubs his temples to let out a tired some sigh. Lettuce slightly flinches from that reaction but he answers, "Yes."

Keiichiro asks, "Then how is Mint-san still alive? All of the other victims have died."

Taruto answers this time. "We were able to stop him before he could. Pai here was able to create a device that can detect when Kisshu gets blood thirsty and begins to feed. We found him and stopped him before he finished her. Judging by her wounds, she tried to run but she was thrown a lot and he pinned her down before biting her neck, hard."

"Taruto!" Pai calls, sharply. Taruto flinches from that. The girls probably didn't want to hear that. Pai looks a little sad in remembrance as he notes, "We remember that our bites are, at first, so painful that they can't scream. But the bite soothes the victim so that they could fall unconscious while we still suck the blood. Mint was unconscious when we stopped him. How we know that Kisshu feels guilty about what he did and is ashamed of it, we saw him leaving in fear of what he did, terror more like it. And he left without asking us for help."

XxX

As Ichigo continues to button her sleeping shirt, she couldn't help but remember the talk she had with the aliens about the situation going on. When she reaches the top button, she lets out a tired sigh. The aliens are back, her best friend has almost become a victim to the blood-sucking murder, and the blood-sucking murder is Kisshu. She didn't tell them about what happened when she saw Kisshu that one time. She still couldn't make sense of it anyway for her to explain it to everyone.

'_What do we do now?'_ she wonders, looking down at her bed before her.

_Snap_

"Uh?!"

Ichigo looks up at the window where she heard the snapping sound and she sees a very surprising sight. She sees Kisshu on the branch of the tree outside her window, staring at her with shocked eyes of being caught. Ichigo couldn't believe it at first. Kisshu is right outside her window and after everything she heard, she doesn't feel anger or hated towards him. Just the undeniable feeling of wanting to help him.

"Kisshu!" she calls, running to the window. Now his eyes are wide in surprise that she called for him. She runs to the window and tries to open it up. But as she struggled to open it, Kisshu took that time to escape like a scared animal and Ichigo didn't notice. When she breaks the window free of its lock, she opens it and calls again, "Kisshu!" But as she looked out, she sees nothing. She only sees the black night sky, the stars twinkling above her, the street lights blinking, and the tree before her. Her heart drops when she doesn't see Kisshu.

'_He's not here,'_ she thinks. _'Does that mean that what I did saw was really my imagination?'_

Minutes later, Ichigo closes the window and locks it again. She goes to her light switch and turns it off. She still has school tomorrow, despite what happened today and she has to go to bed. Ichigo lays on her bed and brings the cover up to her body. Then she closes her eyes, hoping for a dreamless sleep, but like the night before, she gets a song dream. No images, just the sound of the song.

_Open Wounds__ by Skillet_

But as she dreams, Kisshu hides behind her tree. When Ichigo was trying to open her window, he hid behind the tree and he held his breathe, hopping that she would go away. It hurt. It hurt to hear her call for him. It hurt to see her looking at him with eyes full of concern instead of anger or hatred for what he did.

When she closed the window and turned off the light, Kisshu didn't dare another look at her. He just leaned against the tree trunk in mid air and tears are dripping down her his eyes and they roll down his cheeks. His tears are full of guilt and his expression looks so ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles. He covers his eyes as the tears keep coming from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo. I'm so, so sorry."


	4. Next Target: Pudding

**A/N: Hello, everyone!! Today I need Kisshu, Ichigo, Pudding, Taruto, and Pai. These are the main characters that I need for this chapter.**

**Pudding: Hooray, na no da!! Taru-Taru and I get to have a chapter together!!**

**Taruto: Pudding! Don't make it sound so romantic!**

**Kisshu: Well it is kind of cute.**

**Taruto: You jerk!!**

**Ichigo: -hits him on the top of the head- Don't be so mean to him.**

**Tsukiko: So much drama in here.**

**Pai: Along with comedy.**

**Tsukiko: Oh well. I do NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies that I use in my stories. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming. They are very appreciated. Thank you and please enjoy!!**

Ch. 4: Next Target: Pudding

_Flashback…_

"_Kisshu!! Get off her!!"_

_Kisshu releases Mint's neck and looks up. Pai and Taruto are coming towards him and Pai throws a bolt of electricity at him. Before he got hit, Kisshu jumps off from Mint's unconscious body. But he hardly missed it. The bolt of lightning just barely missed his foot and it was cut. Kisshu winced in pain from the lightning as he lands on the ground feet away from Mint's body. Both Taruto and Pai arrived by her side and Taruto stands in front of her to protect her as Pai kneels down besides her._

_Pai presses his fingers against her throat and gasps in surprise. He notes, "She's alive!" Taruto turns to look at him in surprise of hear that._

"_And she wouldn't be if you let me finish."_

_Taruto and Pai look at Kisshu in shock that he said that. He's sitting down, analyzing his cut foot. Some drops of blood land on the ground. "How terrible, Pai," Kisshu notes. "You hurt me." Then he bends down to it and licks the wound and the blood. When he backed away after licking it, it stopped bleeding. Taruto and Pai's eyes stare in amazement as Kisshu licked his lips. "I liked her blood better. Mine tastes incomplete. Hers taste just like blueberries." When he looked back at both Pai and Taruto, he grinned evilly with his red eyes looking right through them. "I think I'll take my leave now. Sure I didn't have as much blood as I did a few nights before, but it's better than nothing and I obtained my answer."_

_Okay, that was confusing._

_Taruto asks, "Hold on! You're not going anywhere until you tell us what it is you're looking for!"_

_But Kisshu just waved. "Why not ask your friend?" Both Taruto and Pai look at him confused, until it looked like Kisshu has a sudden, terrible headache. "Augh!!" he screams in pain. He grips his head in his hands and he winces even more in pain. Taruto and Pai just watched, not knowing what's going on or what to do. Seconds later, Kisshu quiet down. "That smell…" Taruto and Pai gasp again. Kisshu looks up and he pleads, "Please tell me that's not Mint's scent!" When Taruto and Pai saw his eyes, they weren't red anymore to show the hungry beast. They were the same golden amber eyes that Taruto and Pai know._

"_Kisshu, you're back!" Taruto exclaims._

_But Kisshu doesn't look at him. All he sees is the body behind Taruto and besides Pai. He stands up straight, his eyes wide in shock. He sees Mint unconscious body and how pale she looks. It didn't take long for him to touch his mouth and he feels something wet. He pulls his hand back and he sees the small traces of Mint's blood that still remained on his face. He takes a whiff of her blood and pulls it back as if it has the most horrible stench in the world. Now he looks horrified. "I-I killed her, d-didn't I?" he asks, his voice shaky in fear._

_Pai tries to tell him, "Kisshu, she's still alive!"_

_But Kisshu looks like he didn't hear him. "Oh god," he breathes out. He starts panting, showing his panic of what he did. He holds his head again as memories of his hunt tonight play in his head. "I chased her, I cut her, and I smelled her blood. Then I…" He didn't say anymore as he remembers, pinning her down to the ground and biting her neck. "She can't help me then…" Kisshu mumbles. Taruto and Pai look at him in surprise as Kisshu mumbles, "If I can't even stop myself when I attacked a Mew Mew, then she can't help me. She has to stay away. She has to stay away."_

_Taruto yells, "Kisshu!! Wait!" But he didn't listen. A second later, Kisshu teleported away. "Kisshu!!"_

…_End of Flashback_

"Pai!" Taruto calls. "Do you have results on Kisshu's blood yet?"

Pai's hands press every key on his alien computer in his ship as he looks up at the giant screen before him. "Yes," he answers. Several different screens show up; one of them shows blood DNA and another shows different cells infesting the blood cells. "From the blood we were able to obtain from when I cut his foot, I've learned something…bad."

"Bad?" Taruto asks, a bit confused from his choice of words. "As in, what kind of 'bad'?"

"As in, if we don't return Kisshu by the next full moon, he will forever be a blood-sucking monster."

"The full moon? But that's in three days!!"

"Exactly."

XxX

"Can we have the check?!"

"Coming!!"

"This isn't my order."

"Please excuse me!"

After fixing the mess up, Ichigo growls. She turns around to the corner of the café and yells, "Mint! Get off your lazy butt and help!!" But when she turns around, she doesn't see Mint. Mint's table is empty. After seeing that she's not here, Ichigo's eyes soften in remembrance of why that table looks so lonely. Hearing her, the other mew mews stopped working and they look at Ichigo, only to see the same lonely table. All of their hearts shun at the sight of that empty table.

Usually at the café, things would be crazy a lot more than today. Pudding doing her crazy acrobatic tricks, Lettuce tripping over nothing and spilling tea and cake everywhere, Zakuro being cold to everyone, Mint drinking tea while everyone works, and Ichigo going back and forth while yelling at Mint to start helping instead of drinking tea. But Mint isn't here. The memory of her in the hospital, completely pale and covered in bruises appears in everyone's minds.

But the memory of her looking like that isn't the only thing that has left anyone's mind. The fact that Kisshu was the one who put Mint in that hospital bed affected them just as much. And to think that all of that only happened yesterday. The wound caused by the truth of it is still fresh and it still burns. From what they learned on the radio and the news, Mint is the only living survivor. Everyone else that was a victim is dead and Kisshu was the cause. Sure it's only been a day, but Mint is still unconscious so the media won't know who the killer is until she wakes up. Hopefully, the other mews and the other aliens can fix that problem, otherwise who knows what she'll say when she's only half conscious!

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?" Ichigo asks.

Pudding continues to smile as cheerful as she can as she tells her 'sister', "I'll be fine, na no da!"

The day is coming to an end, the café is closed, and the sun is only half an hour away from setting. Time to go home and Ichigo just asked Pudding if she should walk her home since things are still pretty dangerous. Zakuro decided to take Lettuce home by her car so they'll be home in no time. Ichigo and Pudding have to walk.

Pudding gets into a karate pose and declares, "If worst comes to worst, I will fight and run as fast as I can, na no da!!" Then she does a karate kick and Ichigo only sweat drops at Pudding's childish behavior. "Besides," Pudding starts, standing up straight, "it's still light out, na no da! The sun doesn't set for a while, na no da."

"Alright then," Ichigo says, giving in. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Right, Ichigo onee-chan!!" Pudding solutes to Ichigo before turning around and begins skipping in the opposite direction of her friend. Ichigo just watches her go before smiling and turning around to walk home.

Minutes pass and Pudding is still skipping home. Giggling to herself and trying to hum a happy tune to distract herself from the darkness that comes out at night. The sun just barely touches the mountain to set when she suddenly hears moaning.

"Uh?"

Pudding stops skipping and gets quiet to listen. She hears moaning from her right side. When she looks to the right, she see a crowd of trees, a few bushes in front of them, and Kisshu leaning on one of the trees. He doesn't see her as he's leaning his back on the tree and holding his chest together. From what Pudding can see, he's sweating and he appears to be wincing in great pain.

"Kisshu onii-chan!!" she calls, seeing him.

He stops moaning after he heard that and his head snaps up. He looks at her and his golden amber eyes widen like he's seeing the ghost of Christmas past. "Pudding?" he asks, just in case.

She nods. "Yes, it's me na no da."

He takes steps back. "Get away!" he tells her. "Get away from here before the sun sets!" He takes even more steps back.

"Wait, na no da!" she calls, running to him. His eyes widen more of her actions and her calling. As she gets closer, she sees on opening between two bushes and runs for that. But when she passes the bushes, they had thorns sticking out and her arm gets cut. "Ouch!" she yells, looking at her arm. What she sees is a cut right below the elbow and blood is spilling out. When Kisshu sees that blood, his eyes got as big as entrée plates. It didn't take long for him to smell it's sweet scent.

_Ba-dum_

_Ba-dum, ba-dum_

_Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum_

"Aaaugh!!" he cries out, holding his head and collapsing to his knees.

Pudding turns her attention from her arm to him. "Kisshu onii-chan!"

His body begins to shake and he starts panting. He was able to say between breathes, "Step…back…" His words stun her for a moment, until he makes more noises. Then she runs to him.

"Just hold on, na no da!" she tells him, kneeling in front of him. "Let me call for help, na no da!" Then she tries to reach for her phone that's in her left pocket but before she could stick her hand in it, Kisshu's hand grasps her wrist and harshly pulls it away. She looks up at him in surprise, only to meet his blood red eyes.

"Gotcha."

Pudding stands where she is, stunned by his sudden change in behavior and terrified of those hungry red eyes. The hand that Kisshu grasps is the one with the cut. His eyes look down at the cut and then he lifts the arm up harshly to look at it. He leans closer to it and takes a long whiff of it.

"Hmmm," he sighs in content. "It's not the one I need to worry about but it is delicious." When his eyes look back at her, Pudding winces in fear. He has a wide smile on as he tells her, "Bad news for you, sweet heart. Dinner time." He opens his mouth and Pudding sees his two long, sharp fangs, waiting to pierce her skin and drain her of her blood.

"Get off her!!"

By the time Kisshu reacted, a bolt of lightning was flying at him. Instantly, Kisshu let go of Pudding and jumped away before he was hit again and Pudding was left to cover herself when the lightning hit the ground.

"Pudding!" she hears Taruto call. She opens her eyes and she sees Taruto kneeled down in front of her. "Are you alright?" She nods and turns around to look for Kisshu, only to see him several feet away on all fours in the middle of the walk way. Pai is standing before both Pudding and Taruto in a protective matter. What Pudding also notices about Pai and Taruto is that they are wearing their old battle uniforms she remembers from three years ago. The only addition is that they are bigger to fit their older bodies.

Kisshu doesn't look insulted for being interrupted. He only smirks and greets, "Hello, Pai. Hello, Taruto. I know I'm early but I couldn't resist her sweet blood." Taruto growls at that.

He stands up, much to Pudding's surprise, and he yells, "You stay away from her, Kisshu!"

"Maybe if you both join me, I'll leave the rest of the mews alone," he tells them. Pai and Taruto look at him curiously as Kisshu adds in the details. "If you both give into the monster deep inside of you that you so unwillingly sealed away, I'll leave the girls alone. Simple as that."

Taruto yells, "Heck no!!"

"Even if we did join you, you wouldn't leave the mew mews alone," Pai explains.

Kisshu lost his smirk for a moment. Then he chuckles and says, "You're right. I won't."

"Kisshu, this all has to stop now!" Taruto screams, getting a bit irritated. "Try to control that vampire side! You did it before!"

"Yes, but Kisshu didn't seal it up good, didn't he?" Taruto and Pai stare at him blankly as the grin on Kisshu's face widens. "Why do you think I was able to come out so easily after that one accident? It's because your friend sealed me up too early. Maybe if he took as long as you two, he might have but he can't now! My thirst has grown to such an extent that I can hardly control it myself! It burns. Every time I don't quench it, it burns and the pain is unbearable. Hell! I might go on a killing spree if I don't drink enough blood!"

Seeing that he's gathering information, Pai asks, "When you attacked Mint, you said that you 'obtained' your answer. What is it that you're looking for?"

Kisshu took another moment of silence. He looked like he was debating whether to tell them or not. He decides to do it anyway. "I'm looking for the owner of my blood- the one who can completely stop my thirst." All three of them stare at him in surprise. Kisshu smirks again. "Don't get me wrong. It's not that I want to stop killing everyone. I want to continue killing people because I can enjoy it but to do that, I need to kill the one who can stop me and I need to do that right after I smell his or her blood. If I take too long soon after I discover that person, then I won't be able to resist. I will drink from that person and I will cease to exist." Then he closes his eyes and takes a whiff of the air. "That girl, Pudding, doesn't have the blood I need. But she'll make a good meal. Her blood is pure, just like her spirit if I remember correctly." Pudding flinched from that as Taruto begins to growl, furiously.

Then Taruto's hands begin to glow blue. A big blast forms and he carries it over his shoulder. "You leave her out of this!!" he screams, throwing the blast at Kisshu as if he's throwing a base ball.

The blast went towards Kisshu at full speed and soon…

_Boom_

When Ichigo heard that, she sharply turns around and she sees a funnel of smoke rising the sun setting sky. It didn't take long for her mind to think of the worst.

'_That's where Pudding should be. Oh no!'_

She turns around and she begins to run to the funnel of smoke.

Meanwhile, the spot where Taruto threw his blast, there is a black explosion mark on the ground. Kisshu was able to jump away just in time and he's several feet away from the explosion. He looks at the marks and then whistles from the sight of it. "Amazing," he comments. "You were just willing to kill your friend. Very despicable, Taruto."

But Taruto yells, "The one talking is not my friend! He's an imposter!"

"But I share the same body as him, don't I?" Kisshu asks. "So who will be the first to die then? Your friend or your girlfriend?"

Taruto got angry again. "I told you!!" he screamed. Pai and Taruto look at him, shocked by the depth of his voice and the rise of his anger. "LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!!!" Then he charges at him.

"Taruto!" Pai calls, to get him to stop but Taruto doesn't listen to him.

Kisshu smirks even more as Taruto gets closer. Then Pudding screams, "Stop, Taru-Taru!" He still didn't stop.

Right when he was going to punch Kisshu, Kisshu jumps in the air to dodge it. Taruto looks up in the air and Kisshu has something in his hand. He throws it at Taruto and he didn't have time to dodge it. He covered himself as it hit him. Then it explodes on his body, releasing a lot of blood. When nothing really hurt him and Taruto felt the wet feeling of the blood on his body, he lowers his arms and looks at his body to see the blood. He gasps in shock as Kisshu lands on the ground, grinning. Pudding gasps, horrified as Pai covers his mouth with his arm warmer in front of his nose to block the smell of the blood. As Taruto stares at the blood on his body, he begins to shake.

Kisshu notes, "I've been waiting for the chance to use that blood balloon?" Pai and Pudding look at him in surprise of hearing that. So what he threw was a water balloon but it was filled with blood instead! "If you two won't come with me by choice, then I'll take you back by force. It's no fun drinking the living blood out of humans by myself."

"What did you say?" Pai asks.

But there are other matters at hand now. Taruto stares at the blood on his arm and he can feel it dripping down his head and his skin. He can smell it too. Its sweet bitter smell is burning through his nostrils and it's causing his mouth to drool. His heart rate is pumping hard and fast. He's breathing through his mouth, already imaging the taste of the blood if he took a lick. He risked it. His hand has some blood on it and he raises it up to his mouth, slowly. Kisshu's eyes gleam with success as Pai's widen in caution.

"Taruto! Fight it!" he screams but to Taruto, he doesn't exist. The only thing that did is the blood on his hand.

Taruto raises the hand to his mouth and he closes his eyes as he licks the blood off. The moment that the blood hit his tongue, his body stops shaking and he lets out a moan in pleasure. Its taste let out an electric shock through his body, awakening every nerve in his body. He licks the blood clean off his hand and lets out a contented sigh.

"It's good," he comments. When he opens his eyes, they're red. Just like Kisshu's. "It's been too long."

Kisshu smiles evilly in victory as Pai stares at the young alien shock of losing him. Pudding however, has tears in her eyes. _'No!'_ she thinks. _'Taru-Taru is…turning into a vampire. He's going to hurt people, kill people, and…leave. He's going to leave!'_ Then she stands up and runs. Kisshu and Pai, noticing her, look at her, startled as she runs to Taruto. She then hugs him from behind and screams, "Don't leave me, Taru-Taru!!" Taruto's eyes widen when he feels her arms around him. She grips on to him tighter. "Please, na no da," she pleads with tears already running down her cheeks. "Control it, na no da!! I don't want to lose you, na no da. Because we're buds, remember, na no da? Please…don't leave me, na no da."

"That smell…" he whispers. Pudding's eyes shoot open and he grabs her hand. Before she could do anything, he lifts her hand up and he bites it. She winces in the sudden pain of his fangs and she can feel him sucking on her blood. Pai tenses up as Kisshu looks even more excited with his success.

But before anyone can do anything, Taruto stops himself first.

"Pudding?!" he asks, releasing her hand. He sharply turns around to her and she looks up at him. Pai looks amazed as Kisshu looks shocked. Pudding..is his blood, the only blood that can control his thirst.

When Pudding looks up at Taruto's face, she doesn't see a monster or the eyes belonging to a monster. She sees his golden eyes, the eyes that belong to her friend. She couldn't control herself. More tears rise up to her eyes and they cloud her vision. She couldn't control her sudden burst of relief. "Taru-Taru!!" she screams, jumping on to him. He takes steps back in surprise as she cringes to him and cries. "Waaaaaaahhhh!! Taru-Taru!! I was so scared, na no da!"

He looks down at her, his eyes softening when he sees her tears. He hugs her back, holding her close and safe. "I'm sorry I worried you, Pudding," he tells her, softly. "I'm not going anywhere." Seeing this, Pai lets out a sigh of relief. But Kisshu growls in frustration and anger.

Suddenly, he charges at both of them. "You're both dead!!" he yells. Taruto and Pudding look up at him, seeing him ready to attack with a raised claw. Taruto holds Pudding closer, ready to protect her as Ichigo comes in after turning at one corner. She sees Kisshu ready to attack both a blood drenched Taruto and scared Pudding. She didn't need to know the details of what happened. She only cared about what is happening as soon as she got there.

"KISSHU!!!" she screams.

When he heard her voice screaming his name, he stopped. He stopped running, his claw still up in the air, and his face a sudden blank. Taruto, Pai, and Pudding turned behind to see Ichigo panting and sweating from running as fast as she could to get here. Kisshu slowly lowered his claw and look at her as well. He sees her warm dark red eyes staring only at him. When he sees her and her worried expression, his red eyes disappeared and returned to golden amber. His fangs returned to normal size and his voice sounds soft.

"I-Ichigo?" he asks.

Taruto, Pai, and Pudding look back at him and they see him back to normal. Kisshu then stands up straight and looks around. "What was I…"

Ichigo's eyes look tender, just like her voice. "Oh Kisshu."

As he looks around, he sees the explosion mark and he remembers how Taruto attacked him with that and why he did that. Then when he looks at Taruto and Pudding, he remembers how he threw a balloon full of blood at Taruto and nearly turned him into a blood-sucking monster like him. He even remembers Pudding's tears as she pleaded Taruto not to go. He holds his head from the memories and his eyes are wide and shaking. "I…"

_Step, step_

_Step, step_

He looks up and he sees Ichigo walking towards him. He got scared real fast. "Stay away from me!" he yells. Ichigo stops and tenses from his words.

Still she gathers enough courage to yell, "No! You asked me for my help and I want to help you, Kisshu!"

"I may have asked for it but I don't want it!!"

Ichigo's eyes widen in confusion as he stares at her in pain. He tells her softly, "I don't want you involve. I can't control myself and I can't bare it if you got hurt. I don't…I don't…I don't want to ruin your happiness." He looks away from her and she stares at him in surprise and pity.

"Kisshu," she calls again, taking another step closer. But he takes a step back.

"Just leave me alone or I will kill you!" he cautions. Before she could say anything else, the air around him begins to ripple. He's leaving and Ichigo got scared real fast.

"Kisshu!!"

But by the time she called for him, reached for him, he was already gone. She stood there, reaching for the empty space in front of her.


	5. A White Pearl in a Dark Sea

**A/N: Hi guys!! Sorry that I complained in my other author notes in my other stories about not getting a response for the idea of 'How Kisshu Stole Christmas' but that was just me. I complain a lot.**

**Taruto: We should know. We have to listen to her.**

**Tsukiko: Do you mind?! Anyway, this chapter is for LettuceXPai fans. I hope you all like it. I do NOT own TMM or the songs or the stories I use in my stories. I only come up with the changes and the ideas. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming. I simply adore them, actually! Thank you and please, please enjoy!!**

**Taruto: I think that's the first time she said that in a while.**

**Pai: Well, we have been saying them for her.**

**Tsukiko: And I greatly appreciate it but I would love it if you both would shut up about it and get ready!!**

Ch. 5: A White Pearl in a Dark Sea

_Fingernails__ by Skillet_

_Never reaching what I want to reach  
Never being who I want to be  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
All my dreams splintering  
Under my fingernails  
Under my fingernails_

I'm empty, lonely, and accused  
Accused without a word  
My fingernails are chipping down  
From clawing in the dirt  
I'm so lost, lost and confused  
I threw it all away  
How can I be beautiful  
When I am so afraid

Never reaching what I want to reach  
Never being who I want to be  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
All my dreams splintering  
Under my fingernails  
All my dreams out of reach  
Under my fingernails

I watched it all slip through my hands  
My brokenness revealed  
I'm so proud, I'm so proud  
I'm crying to be filled  
I'm killing, destroying the plague  
That's killing me away  
I've got to live, I've got to love  
Like I am unafraid

Never reaching what I want to reach  
Never being who I want to be  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
All my dreams splintering  
Under my fingernails _[2x]___

All my dreams out of reach  
Under my fingernails

I'm wasting, wasting every moment  
I want to be tasting  
Tasting every moment with you  
I'm suffering, I'm bleeding, on my knees  
Who's going to save me?  
Suffering, bleeding  
Save me from this pit of frailty

Never reaching what I want to reach  
Never being who I want to be  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
All my dreams splintering  
Under my fingernails _[2x]___

All my dreams out of reach  
Under my fingernails

Never reaching me

As soon as the song ended, Ichigo wakes up but this time, less alert than usual. When her eyes open at the sound of her alarm clock beeping, she simply pushes herself up into a sitting position on her bed. Because the alarm clock was still beeping, Ichigo reaches over to the side and presses the snooze button. The alarm clock gets quiet and her hand, that was reaching, goes to her head. She presses the palm of her hand against her damped forehead.

She's been having these dreams for a while now. Ever since this whole thing started. But now that she has been getting these dreams for several nights now, she hasn't been waking up in the middle of the night in total fright like she did in the beginning. But still.

Ichigo holds her head and lets out a deep sigh. "These dreams," she mumbles. "What are they?"

XxX

"Ichigo?" Masaya calls, concerned. Ichigo's head snaps up from staring down at the ground to the face of her boyfriend. He asks, "Are you alright?"

Ichigo begins to freak out a little. Both of them stopped walking and Ichigo completely faces him. She waves her hands in front of herself fast and tells him, "Nothing! There is nothing wrong with me!" Then she begins to laugh to prove her point.

'_Ichigo, you idiot!!'_ she screams to herself. _'Don't daze off when you're on a 'walking to work' date with the cutest guy in the universe!!'_

"Are you worried about the serial killer, Ichigo?" Masaya asks. Ichigo stops laughing and waving her hands in front of her as she stares at him, stunned by his words.

Her eyes fell to sadness and she looks down in guilt. Ichigo answers, "Yes."

Then to her surprise, his hand goes to her face and he gently brushes his fingers against her soft skin. She looks up at him again and the next thing she sees is his closing in lips. Before she could say anything, his lips press against hers. She closes her eyes and relaxes under his lips. It ended seconds later.

Masaya's arms wrap around her and he tells her, "I know." Ichigo's eyes turn soft as she takes in the warmth of his arms and his scent. He softly smiles her as he strokes her head. "You're upset that one of your friends was a victim. But don't worry. I know that the authorities will capture this guy before the whole city starts panicking again. This is not your battle to fight, Ichigo. Soon there will be peace again."

Ichigo's eyes widen in shame but they narrow and she nods. "Yeah," she answers softly.

Then his hold gets tighter. "Besides if you ever become the next victim, I promise I will be there to protect you. I don't have Deep Blue's powers anymore, but I will still protect you with my life, Ichigo."

Ichigo nods again. She raises her arms to hold him back and she pulls herself closer to his chest. "Thank you," she tells him.

But in her mind, she's screaming, _'Idiot!! I'm keeping secrets from him again. I don't know why, but I can't. I can't tell him that I know who the killer really is and that it's not his fault that he's killing people. Kisshu is innocent. I'm sorry, Masaya. I'm so, so sorry.'_ Her hold around him gets tighter.

XxX

At the end of the day, both Taruto and Pai arrive and Ichigo, Pudding, and Zakuro were cleaning.

As soon as Pudding sees Taruto, her face brightens up and she squeals, "Taru-Taru!!" Then she jumps on him and hugs him.

"Uaagh!!" he yells when she lands on him. He takes steps back to steady himself and everyone is staring at them. Taruto is blushing red as he tries to push Pudding off. "Pudding, get off! This is not the time!"

Pai then announces, "We have important information that you mews might be interested in."

Pudding gets off and the three mews look at Pai with either surprised eyes or curious eyes. She asks, "Does it have to do with Kisshu onii-chan, na no da?"

Taruto asks, "What else would it be about?" Everyone ignored him for that. They're waiting to hear from Pai.

"There might be a way to save Kisshu," he starts. Ichigo's eyes went wide with hope as he adds, "But we are running out of time and we must make haste before Kisshu finds it first."

Zakuro asks, "What do you mean by that?"

"Kisshu is looking for the one thing that can stop him but when he finds it, he's going to kill it before sucking that person's blood." Pai takes a moment of silence before speaking again to let it sink in. The mews wait patiently to hear more. He explains, "Last night, he tried to make Taruto give into his inner monster but Pudding stopped him. But not with words, with her blood. She is what you humans call 'blood preference'. Once Taruto tasted her blood, she stopped his never ending thirst for blood that Kisshu almost created. Kisshu is looking for his blood preference and he has until the night of the full moon to find that person. If he doesn't drink that person's blood by that time, then he will forever be a blood-sucking monster. But if he drinks that blood before the night of the full moon, then there is a chance of him returning to normal."

Ichigo had to ask, "Is that true?!"

"Believe it," Taruto tells them. The mews look at him as he's glaring at Pai while saying, "I was Pai's guinea pig all last night and all day today."

Pai only tells him, "When I need to know something, I research it thoroughly. Especially when we desperately need to learn more of our situation."

Ichigo and Pudding think, _'He just loves to research, doesn't he/na no da?'_

Then Taruto notices something. He looks around and asks, "Hey! Where's the green mew? Today isn't her day off is it?"

Pudding answers, "Lettuce onee-chan left for home already, na no da. She left a few minutes before you did, na no da." As soon as she said that, both Pai's and Taruto's eyes widen in fear. They turn around to a window and the mews follow their gaze in curiosity. It's almost sunset and now the mews begin to worry as well.

XxX

Lettuce is walking home and she's very tense. She's walking flat footed down the trail to go home and she's walking rather quickly as the sun is setting into darkness. Then as she walks, she hears something.

_Rustle_

Lettuce stops walking and tenses up in fear of hearing that. Her heart already begins to beat in fear of the cause of that rustle sound. Her teeth clench together and her eyes widen in fear.

_Rustle_

Lettuce jumps this time and she looks to the side. Her arms close together and her body begins to shiver in fear. She's ready to scream. If Kisshu suddenly comes jumping out of the bushes and attacks her, she's prepared to scream. Sure she's a bit far from the café but at least she will be heard before she's killed.

_Rustle_

She sees the bushes shaking this time with the sound and Lettuce takes a step back. Now she's ready to run. Sure she probably won't get far but there is no way she is going to be a victim without an attempt to run for her life.

But instead of Kisshu, a bird comes flying from behind the bushes. The bird flies away and Lettuce freezes for a moment. Then a sweat drop appears on her head before she bends over in relief and relaxation. Then, she stands up straight and wipes her forehead in relief.

"Lettuce, relax!" she tells herself. "Just relax and get home. There is a one in a hundredth chance that I'll get killed tonight."

"Unluckily for you that one in a hundredth chance isn't as thin as it sounds."

Lettuce tenses when she hears Kisshu's voice behind her. When she tensed up in fear of hearing him, she felt Kisshu's breathe near her throat. She can hear him opening his mouth and she can already imagine seeing his long, hungry fangs an inch from her skin.

"No!!" she screams, getting away and turning around. When she faces Kisshu, she sees the exact same thing her friends have been seeing and her reaction is just the same. She's absolutely terrified of his long fangs that she could see from the small opening in his mouth and the sight of his beastly, hungry red eyes.

Kisshu smirks in delight and he tells her, "I didn't eat anything last night so I was wondering if you will be willing to let me feed on you until you're completely dried of blood?"

Hearing his words caused Lettuce to tremble and her voice to whimper a bit. Her bottom lip is shaking in fear and her eyes stare at him in a horrified, pleading way. Kisshu seems to like that look in her eye.

"I will give you twenty seconds to run, starting now. I love a good chase but if you don't move, I wouldn't mind feeding on you right here," he tells her.

Lettuce takes a step to the side, towards where the café is and then she runs. Kisshu didn't seem to notice that she's going back the way she came. He's counting the seconds with his fingers. Lettuce pushes as hard as she can to get as close to the café as possible. Then the chances of hearing her will be higher when she screams before Kisshu bites her and then hopefully her friends will save her before she actually dies. All she could do was run but twenty seconds goes by very quickly.

Kisshu suddenly appears in front of her, his claws flexed. She stops and gasps from seeing him. Then he slashes his claws at her and she raises her arm to protect herself. Her arm gets cut and she screams.

"Aaaaggghhh!!"

Then Kisshu grabs her wrists and pushes her down. One moment she was standing with Kisshu right in front of her and the next, she's on the ground with him pinning her down. As she lies on the ground, Kisshu closes his eyes and smells the air, along with the scent of her blood. He moans in pleasure. "You're not the one," he tells her. She looks at him confused as he opens his eyes and grins at her. "But I can guess who you belong to. Too bad though. I'll finish his meal before him." He bends down to her arm and she can feel his tongue against her skin. As he licks the blood off of her cut, Lettuce's cheeks turn red. She's embarrassed by the feel of his tongue on her skin. When he licked away her blood, she didn't bleed anymore. But then he doesn't hesitate to go up to her neck and bite. Lettuce tenses up from his bite. His hands on her wrists tighten, nearly to the point of breaking them. Lettuce tries to scream but no sound could come out and with each second the soundless scream wastes, Kisshu sucks mouthfuls of her blood. Soon her eyes felt heavy. She tries to fight the tired feeling of exhaustion that's slowly taking over her but it's very, very hard.

"Get off her!!"

Usually, it would be Taruto who screams when the two of them arrive. But when Kisshu heard it, he hears Pai screaming at him. Kisshu releases Lettuce's neck and looks up to see Pai and Taruto coming at him. Pai faces his palm at Kisshu and a bolt of lightning comes shooting out. Like before, Kisshu jumps away from Lettuce's body before the bolt of lightning hit him. When he dodged it, the bolt of lightning hit the ground around Lettuce to avoid hitting her. Then as Kisshu lands a few yards away from Lettuce, Pai stands in between them and Taruto kneels besides Lettuce. Pudding, Ichigo, and Zakuro come running in. Because Kisshu notices something else, he doesn't notice Ichigo.

Taruto presses his fingers against Lettuce's throat and he notes, "She's barely conscious but at least she's alive." The girls tense up and gasp in horror.

Pudding yells, "Do something, na no da!!"

He turns to look up at her and he says, "I can only stop the bleeding and hopefully wake her up but she'll be very weak." Without the 'okay', Taruto bends over to Lettuce and kneels down to her throat. When they see that, they're a bit nervous but he only licks the wound away. A second later, he sits up straight and spits.

"Patuy!" he says, spitting the blood out of his mouth. He licks his mouth and comments, "Disgusting." The mews stare at him confused as he pokes one finger on Lettuce's body. When he does that, a bit of electricity comes shooting through her body. Lettuce opens her eyes and stands up from the feel of the electricity shocking through her body. She gasps and pants as she stands up. The mews are amazed.

"Taru-Taru," Pudding calls. Taruto looks up at her as Pudding asks, "Why did you spit the blood out, na no da?"

"Because it tastes disgusting to me now," he answers. Pudding stares at him confused and he answers, "From what we also found out, if we drink our blood preference than all other bloods don't appeal to us. We will still have our powers but we don't feed on other humans' blood. Same thing will happen to Kisshu if we find his blood in time."

"Hey, Pai. Why are you shaking?"

As soon as he asked that, the mews look up in surprise that he heard that as Taruto's eyes widen in caution and worry. He looks up as well and Pai is standing in between them and Kisshu and he's shaking. His shakes are visible and from what Kisshu sees, he can see that Pai's eyes are wide and his reaction made Kisshu very pleased.

"Could it be…that you've found your blood and it's sweet scent is intoxicating you?"

Now the mews understand as Pai tries to cover his mouth to block the scent. "No, I.." he tries to say, but it's no use. He can still smell the sweet scent of blood from between his fingers. His mind is going blank and he can feel the hard, pulse of his heart beat from his chest. Each second, his heart pumps harder and harder.

_Ba-dum_

_Ba-dum, ba-dum_

_Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum_

Pai closes his eyes and he tries to hold his breath to block the scent. But that doesn't even seem to be working. His head aches and his throat is dry. He can feel the fangs extending in his mouth and he grits his teeth hard together to try and contain it. His throat screams for it to be quenched and his head pounds with each heartbeat. Seeing his reaction continues to please Kisshu, even though he can see that Pai is trying to control the monster within him.

"You don't have to hold back," he tells him. Pai at him and the pupils look really small from the amount of pain he's feeling. Kisshu offers, "If you let the monster out, I swear in blood that I will take you away from here and you can feed there. You don't have to feed on this poor girl's blood."

Pai must not have been thinking straight because he lowered his hand and asks, "You promise?"

Taruto tenses up in shock when he heard that. "Pai, don't listen to him!" he yells, but it appears that Pai didn't hear him.

Kisshu raises both of his hands and he uses one claw to cut his palm. As the blood spills out, he uses a finger to dip into the blood. Then he draws a cross on his wrist. "You have my word, Pai." In moments, the wound on his hand heals and Kisshu licks the blood off his closed wound.

Pai looks down at the ground, away from Kisshu's gaze and he wonders, _'Should I go? He promised.'_

Taruto couldn't stand it anymore. He turns to Lettuce and he yells, "You have to let Pai drink your blood before he leaves!" Lettuce looks both startled and confused by Taruto's yell. "I understand that you lost some bit of blood but if you don't let Pai drink your blood now, he's going to go crazy!"

"But why?" she asks. "Why my blood?"

"I don't have the time to explain!" Taruto screams. "Pai can't control himself any longer and soon he's going to hurt and kill people! Do you want that?!" Lettuce's eyes widen when she heard that. She turns away to look at Pai and he's still staring at the ground, his body still shaking. Then she gets up and runs over to him.

Seeing her, Kisshu takes a moment of surprise before charging at her. "Don't even try it!"

Seeing him ready to attack her friend, Ichigo screams, "Kisshu, don't!!" He does stop at the sound of her voice and instantly his head aches.

"Augh!" he lets out, holding his head. He bends over and tries to control himself as his eyes begin to flash from red to gold and gold to red.

While he's busy, Lettuce stands before Pai. He notices her and he's surprised to see her. She tells him, "Bite me!" Now he's shocked to hear that.

He takes steps back, away from her and he tells her, "Get away. Stay..back." But she doesn't. Without a second thought, she gets closer and she wraps her arms around him, her arms circling his neck and causing his head to be right up to her neck. Because she's so close, he can feel her blood pumping her veins and he can feel those veins underneath her soft, milky skin.

"Drink," she tells him. "Please." He wants to but he hesitates. Not feeling the same painful bite that Lettuce felt before, her grip tightens until her arms begin to shake. "I'm scared," she says. Pai slightly gasps when he hears that and his shaking ceases. "I'm scared, Pai-san. I really am but losing you terrifies me more. So please!" Her friends and Taruto stare at her in amazement. In moments time, Pai's arms rise up and they wrap around her. Lettuce closes her eyes, waiting as Pai's mouth opens, revealing two long, sharp fangs. He bites on her neck and Lettuce gasps from the small pain and she winces when Pai begins to suck on her blood. But something feels different about this bite. Kisshu's bite was hard and very painful but when Pai bites, it sends electric shocks throughout her body, waking up every cell within her. In fact, it almost feels…wonderful.

Pai only took a few drops before he released her. Lettuce feels a bit faint but she does her best to stay awake. Pai licks the wounds and the extra blood that he missed before holding her close. "Forgive me," he tells her. Lettuce closes her eyes and relaxes in Pai's hold as she can hear his calm heartbeat in his chest. "You must be greatly weakened."

Lettuce tries to keep her hold on him as she tells him softly, "It's alright. I'm just glad you're back." The mews and Taruto let out a sigh of relief. Then Taruto turns to Kisshu and Kisshu is glaring at the scene with red eyes and one hand holding his head.

"It's over, Kisshu!" Taruto yells, standing up. The attention was turned to him as he adds, "Both Pai and I have been cured from our monster. Now it's your turn. Let us help you find your blood and let us help you fight it." The attention was turned back to Kisshu and he continues to stare at Taruto. Soon he drops his hand and smirks.

"I'm not giving up that easily," he tells them. "Once the full moon passes, I don't need you two anyway. Go ahead and live your lives as tamed pets. I'm going to find a place to relieve myself and let your poor, poor friend drown in guilt of what he has done to his friends. I must admit though. The way he's acting is pathetic! But that's what happens when they're having a mental break down. Oh, well. He won't be existing anymore by tomorrow night. Bye-bye." Then the air around him begins to ripple as he begins to disappear.

"Kisshu, wait!!" Ichigo screams, reaching for him. But once again, she's too late. Kisshu is long gone.


	6. Figuring it out

Ch. 6: Figuring it out

"Are you sure that you don't want me to bring anything back?" Mrs. Momomiya asks, looking over her shoulders to her daughter.

Ichigo only smiles and answers, "I'm sure, mom. Have a good day shopping?"

Mrs. Momomiya smiles back and waves. "I'll be back in a few hours, then."

"Bye-bye."

Then with that, Mrs. Momomiya was out of the house. As soon as she locked the door, Ichigo takes a step back for a moment before running back up the stairs to her room. She opens the door and then closes it behind her and locks it. She walks to her desk across from the door and sits down. The surface of her desk is cleared and Ichigo leans her elbows on it and her head on her hands.

"Okay, it's time to stop and think here," Ichigo mumbles to herself. "I have until sunset to try and think about these dreams because it feels like they are an important part of this whole thing! Call me crazy but that's how I feel. What I'm talking about? I am crazy! I'm talking to myself. But…" For a moment of silence, she remembers something.

"_**Ichigo, help me."**_

"Even if he claims that he doesn't want my help anymore," she mumbles to herself, "thinking that these dreams might have something to do with this whole thing is better than just sitting on my butt, praying that Pai and Taruto can find Kisshu's blood in time. Besides, the dreams did start appearing when Kisshu first pleaded help from me." After that, she closes her eyes and tries to remember the dreams.

It didn't take long till her head started to fry.

Ichigo lays on top of her chair and her eyes are nothing more than swirls spinning around and around. "My head…" she whines, her head aching from thinking about her dreams by her brain alone. Knowledge Soon she stands up and shakes her head back and forth to get rid of the dizziness. "I need to figure these dreams out without trying to fry my brain! But how…" After a few seconds, a light bulb shines over her head. "Paper!!"

She looks down at one of the drawers of her desk and she opens it. Inside are at least three stacks of paper piled together that haven't been removed from their plastic bounds. She takes one stack and instantly opens it. She pulls a few sheets of paper out and goes to another drawer to get a pink mechanical pencil. As soon as lead came out, Ichigo instantly started writing, the words of each song she heard flowing from her brain to her hand and on to the paper.

Ichigo's been having these dreams for four nights; when Kisshu asked for help, when Mint became a victim, when Pudding was bitten by Taruto, and when Lettuce saved Pai from his monster self which was only yesterday. Four nights equals four song dreams and four song lyrics to write down. The first one was called _Forsaken_, the second was _Open Wounds_,_ Fingernails_ the third, and_ Collide_ the most recent one.

In about two hours, Ichigo was able to write all of the lyrics down.

"Finished!" she exclaims, happy with her progress. She drops her pencil and releases her hand, which started to cramp. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!!" Ichigo whines holding the wrist of her writing hand. She looks back at the pile of papers in front of her and mumbles, "This better be worth it." Then she picks up the papers and neatly stacks them together. She puts the first page behind the stack and looks at the very first paper she first wrote on.

_Forsaken_

_I __recall going madly in love with you  
And I remember this  
How could I forget?  
Regret is a needle  
In my neck  
It's slowly filling me  
With poison  
Spreading to my chest_

Take my pain and numb me from this

Why do I have to beg  
When all that's left  
Is a memory  
Forsaken _[2x]___

I recall pledging my sole devotion to you  
It reminds me how  
Now I'm on my knees  
My guilt consumes  
Lost the will in me  
Wasting away before you  
Hold me closer please

Take my pain and numb me from this

Why do I have to beg  
When all that's left  
Is a memory  
Forsaken _[2x]___

Yeah, yeah, yeah  
You break me

Forsake  
You break me _[2x]___

You're breaking me

I recall going madly in love with you  
And I remember this... Tell me

Why do I have to beg  
When all that's left  
Is a memory  
Forsaken _[2x]___

Yeah, yeah, yeah  
Forsaken  
Yeah, yeah, yeah  
Tell me why, why, why, why

Then she goes to the next song, _Open Wounds_.

_In the dark with the music on  
Wishing I was somewhere else  
Taking all your anger out on me, somebody help  
I would rather rot alone  
Then spend a minute with you  
I'm gone, I'm gone_

And you can't stop me from falling apart  
'Cause my self-destruction is all your fault

_[Chorus]__  
How could you, how could you, how could you hate me?  
When all I ever wanted to be was you?  
How could you, how could you, how could you love me?  
When all you ever gave me were open wounds?_

Downstairs the enemy sleeps  
Leaving the TV on  
Watching all the dreams we had turn into static  
Doesn't matter what I do  
Nothing's gonna change  
I'm never good enough

And you can't stop me from falling apart  
'Cause my self-destruction is all your fault

_[Chorus]___

Tell me why you broke me down and betrayed my trust in you  
I'm not giving up, giving in when will this war end?  
When will it end??

You can't stop me from falling apart _[3X]__  
'Cause my self-destruction is all your fault._

_[Chorus]_

Then _Fingernails_.

_Never reaching what I want to reach  
Never being who I want to be  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
All my dreams splintering  
Under my fingernails  
Under my fingernails_

I'm empty, lonely, and accused  
Accused without a word  
My fingernails are chipping down  
From clawing in the dirt  
I'm so lost, lost and confused  
I threw it all away  
How can I be beautiful  
When I am so afraid

Never reaching what I want to reach  
Never being who I want to be  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
All my dreams splintering  
Under my fingernails  
All my dreams out of reach  
Under my fingernails

I watched it all slip through my hands  
My brokenness revealed  
I'm so proud, I'm so proud  
I'm crying to be filled  
I'm killing, destroying the plague  
That's killing me away  
I've got to live, I've got to love  
Like I am unafraid

Never reaching what I want to reach  
Never being who I want to be  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
All my dreams splintering  
Under my fingernails _[2x]___

All my dreams out of reach  
Under my fingernails

I'm wasting, wasting every moment  
I want to be tasting  
Tasting every moment with you  
I'm suffering, I'm bleeding, on my knees  
Who's going to save me?  
Suffering, bleeding  
Save me from this pit of frailty

Never reaching what I want to reach  
Never being who I want to be  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
All my dreams splintering  
Under my fingernails _[2x]___

All my dreams out of reach  
Under my fingernails

Never reaching me

And lastly, _Collide_.

_We have fallen  
We have fallen again tonight  
Where do we go from here  
When they're tearing down our lives?  
When all they want is  
When all they want is  
For us to live in fear  
How long can we hold on?  
Can we hold on?  
Hold on_

There's something deep inside  
That keeps my faith alive  
When all you can do  
Is hide from the fear  
That's deep inside of you  
Something, something, something  
Something, something, something  
To hold me close when I don't know  
There's something deep inside  
That keeps my faith alive

We are healing  
But it's killing us inside  
Can we take a chance?  
When faith and fear collide  
We can make it  
Step out and take it  
We can't live feeling so numb  
How long can we hold on?  
Can we hold on?  
Hold on

There's something deep inside  
That keeps my faith alive  
When all you can do  
Is hide from the fear  
That's deep inside of you  
Something, something, something  
Something, something, something  
To hold me close when I don't know  
There's something deep inside  
That keeps my faith alive _[2x]_

"What the heck do these lyrics mean?" Ichigo wonders, now scattering the papers on her desk to have a good look at all of them. "This isn't really my type of music and they sound so depressing. I don't know if they're talking about a lover or some kind of god." She looks at papers again and tries to read the lyrics carefully.

After a few more hours passed and now it's two hours pass noon, Ichigo lies on her chair again, her eyes swirling and her face red. "This…is…killing…me!!" Then she sits up straight and she scratches her head in frustration. "Augh! What the heck do these songs mean?!!" Then she collapses on her desk, exhausted.

But when her fingers touch one paper and on top one of the lyrics, she suddenly has a calling feeling. Like something is calling to her. Ichigo sits up, confused and startled as she looks at where her hand is pressed against paper. It's the first sheet of lyrics for _Open Wounds_ and the verse that her hand is touching is:

_And you can't stop me from falling apart  
'Cause my self-destruction is all your fault _

Ichigo moves her hand down the sheet of music and she gets that same calling feeling she reaches the end of the song and the lyrics repeats.

"Hold on a minute!"

Ichigo grabs the lyrics for _Collide_ and she scrolls her fingers up the sheet. When she gets another calling, it's the lyrics at the top of the page:

_We have fallen  
We have fallen again tonight  
Where do we go from here  
When they're tearing down our lives?  
When all they want is  
When all they want is  
For us to live in fear  
How long can we hold on?  
Can we hold on?  
Hold on_

Without another thought, Ichigo goes to another drawer of her desk and she grabs a highlighter. She pulls the cap of and she begins to highlight every calling verse from each sheet on the papers. It didn't take long to be done and instead of thinking about it by head again, she writes them all down; starting with the first dream and ending with the last one.

_Forsaken_

_I __recall going madly in love with you  
And I remember this  
How could I forget?  
Regret is a needle  
In my neck  
It's slowly filling me  
With poison  
Spreading to my chest_

I recall pledging my sole devotion to you  
It reminds me how  
Now I'm on my knees  
My guilt consumes  
Lost the will in me  
Wasting away before you  
Hold me closer please

_Open Wounds_

_And you can't stop me from falling apart  
'Cause my self-destruction is all your fault_

And you can't stop me from falling apart  
'Cause my self-destruction is all your fault

_Fingernails_

_Never reaching what I want to reach  
Blaming me when I fall and fail  
_

_I'm so lost, lost and confused  
I threw it all away  
How can I be beautiful  
When I am so afraid_

I watched it all slip through my hands  
My brokenness revealed  
I'm so proud, I'm so proud  
I'm crying to be filled  
I'm killing, destroying the plague  
That's killing me away  
I've got to live, I've got to love  
Like I am unafraid

Tasting every moment with you  
I'm suffering, I'm bleeding, on my knees  
Who's going to save me?  
Suffering, bleeding  
Save me from this pit of frailty

_Collide_

_We have fallen  
We have fallen again tonight  
Where do we go from here  
When they're tearing down our lives?  
When all they want is  
When all they want is  
For us to live in fear  
How long can we hold on?  
Can we hold on?  
Hold on_

When she was done, it was five in the afternoon and the sun will be setting soon. Ichigo lifts up her new sheets of lyrics and looks over at calling verses. When she looks at _Forsaken_, she starts mumbling the lyrics to herself.

'_**I **__**recall going madly in love with you  
And I remember this  
How could I forget?  
Regret is a needle  
In my neck  
It's slowly filling me  
With poison  
Spreading to my chest'**_

After staring at it for a bit longer, her eyes widen in realization and shock. Then she looks down at the other chosen lyrics and her eyes become more and more shock when she realizes what exactly they are.

"They're messages," Ichigo breathes out in disbelief. "For me! From Kisshu…" She points to the _Forsaken_ lyrics and mumbles, "These lyrics are explaining his feelings for me when we were fighting against the other." Then she points to _Open Wounds_. "These explain why he's like this and this!" She points to _Fingernails_. "They express sadness, fear, and emptiness. Feelings that Kisshu feels every time after he killed someone or tried to." Finally her eyes go down to the _Collide_ one and she says, "And these explain his confusion of why this is happening to us."

Then she drops the papers on her desk and leans back on her chair. Her hand goes to her head and she cups her forehead. "Why are these dreams coming to me? Every single one of these songs explains how Kisshu feels; rather it's about the past, how he feels now, or about the situation now." Ichigo takes a moment to think about it. As she thinks, she runs through her memory bank for more clues. She tries to think about all of the times she encountered Kisshu. Then the times when she really encountered him came into mind.

"_**Ichigo, help me."**_

"_**I may have asked for it but I don't want it!! I don't want you involve. I can't control myself and I can't bare it if you got hurt. I don't…I don't…I don't want to ruin your happiness." **_

Then her eyes widen a little bit as she asks, "Am I getting them because they are another call for help, despite what he said? And if they are, then why me? Why am I the one getting them?" Then her eyes widen really big this time.

"_**She is what you humans call 'blood preference'. Once Taruto tasted her blood, she stopped his never ending thirst for blood that Kisshu almost created. Kisshu is looking for his blood preference and he has until the night of the full moon to find that person. If he doesn't drink that person's blood by that time, then he will forever be a blood-sucking monster. But if he drinks that blood before the night of the full moon, then there is a chance of him returning to normal."**_

"He knows…" Ichigo breathes out. Her hand goes to her neck and she rubs the clear, smooth touch of her unmarked skin. She mumbles, "But he can't control himself so he's going to fight alone."

Right after that she looks out the window and the sun is nearly setting on a cloudy day. She didn't waste any time. She jumps out of her chair and she grabs her jacket. She runs out of her room, closing the door in the process and putting her jacket on. When she runs down the stairs, she sees glimpses of her mom and her dad going through life like always; mom cooking and her dad reading the paper while waiting for dinner.

Sakura calls, "Ichigo?" But she ignores her and runs to the door.

"Hey!" Shintaro calls, standing up. "Where do you think you're going?"

Ichigo still didn't answer. She runs to the front door and she quickly puts her shoes on. Then she opens the door and she runs to the park as fast as she can. Her parents come running to the front door and they see how fast she's running towards the park at sunset.

"Ichigo!!"

She still didn't listen to her parent's cry. She only had one thing on her mind.

'_I have to make him bite me! I don't care if he kills me! If he doesn't drink my blood, then he'll be lost forever!'_


	7. The Love Bite

**A/N: Hello everyone!! I have a feeling that you guys are going to love this chapter. I'm not going to spoil it now. You're going to have to read but I think it's something that we all Kisshu-fans ever wanted in this series. I will admit that it's a bit weird but I couldn't resist.**

**Taruto: I'm looking at him in a whole different way now.**

**Kisshu: Except for that one moment in that chapter, I am happy with what's going to happen in this chapter.**

**Taruto: Except for the part where you're acting all defenseless and a weak animal.**

**Kisshu: I'm perfectly fine with that with what happens afterward.**

**Tsukiko: You two!! Please don't spoil it!!**

**Taruto: Tsukiko does NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies she uses for her stories. She only comes up with the changes and the ideas.**

**Kisshu: Tsukiko would also like to thank all of you for your support and your reviews. They make her feel a lot better and when she's in a good mood, she writes more.**

**Taruto: Good for you though.**

**Kisshu: You're just jealous.**

**Tsukiko: Thank you and please enjoy!!**

Ch. 12: The Love Bite

Masaya is walking through the park towards the café. Not knowing that Ichigo didn't go to work today, he's walking over to the café to walk her home. A surprise 'walk home' date for his beloved girlfriend, not caring of the dangers that might await behind the trees and the bushes of the park as the cloudy sky above begin to turn orange from the setting sun behind them.

In the protection of the trees, Kisshu is lying on the ground, gripping his head and gritting his teeth in extreme pain. His body is shaking and his golden amber eyes are wide with pain. His legs start trashing the ground underneath him and his shakes became more violent with each passing second. As he feels this excruciating pain, he hears a voice in his head.

He turns to his side to bring his legs closer to his chest, continuing to grip his head and he hears, _**"You can't win. I will come out, permanently."**_

Kisshu opens his mouth to say something but he ends up wincing in pain before he could talk. "Sh…Shut up!" Then to move, he uses his hands to let of his head and try to push himself up. He stumbles a bit, but the voice stays quiet to hear what Kisshu has to say in defense. When he finally stood up, his legs still felt weak. He leans on a tree for support and takes deep breathes before he could speak. "I will control you," he says softly, while trying to walk. When he arrives at the tree by the edge of the forest, he leans on that tree for if he tried to stand up by himself, he will probably tumble and attract humans out of concern for someone who looks like he could be having a seizer. "I will not kill tonight or any other night!"

"_**You might want to rethink that. Look up."**_

Kisshu hesitated. He was worried about who was just up the trail where his other side instructed him to look. But he did anyway. He lifts his head up and his eyes widen when he sees who's walking down the tail towards where the café should be. He sees the back of Masaya and without another second or hesitation, his eyes begin to turn red.

Masaya continues to walk as normal and happy he could be about seeing Ichigo until he hears, "Yo!" He stops walking, startled by the greeting and the voice. He turns around to see the owner of the voice who called him and he sees Kisshu casually leaning on a tree with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head looking as calm as a cucumber.

"K-Kisshu?!" Masaya breathes out, now surprised to see his formal enemy.

"It's been a while, Masaya," Kisshu greets, still not opening his eyes but smirking in delight, like he's enjoying this little small talk with his three year rival.

"It has," Masaya answers, his voice now firm. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just here on a visit," he answers. "That and I wanted to check on how my little kitty is doing. I hope she's living the happy life she deserves."

Masaya slightly glares at him as he reminds, "Ichigo is not yours."

Kisshu's smirk turns to a grin when he heard that. "Of course she's not." Then he opens his eyes to reveal his red eyes and his mouth smirk now reveals his extended fangs. "She's yours."

Masaya's eyes widen in shock and he gasps when he sees that. He takes steps back in caution and fear as Kisshu pushes himself away from the tree and walks to the middle of the trail looking really dangerous and he appears to be examining Masaya like how a wolf stares at a fresh piece of meat. "K-Kisshu," Masaya stutters, not liking his new eye color or his fangs or the way he's looking at him. "What on earth happened to you?"

Kisshu shrugs his shoulders. "Nothing really. This is just a face that shows how hungry I am when I think about draining your veins completely dry." Masaya's eyes widen in realization this time.

"Y-You're…You're the one who has been killing the humans?!" Masaya asks, a little angry but still fearful. "You attacked Mint?!"

"Technically, yeah," he answers. "Then after her, all of my other preys seem to stay alive, thanks to my blood-drinking brothers. But don't worry about them. I'm the only one who you should be worried about." Then he lets out a small chuckle. "Tonight's the last night and I deeply hope you're not the one. I really want to take my time killing you and I want it to be really gory. Too bad you're not the Blue Knight anymore, huh?" He raises one claw and flexes it to give Masaya a bit more fear for his life. When Kisshu takes one step closer to him, Masaya takes a step back. Seeing this made the grin on Kisshu's face wider.

Then Kisshu disappeared.

By the time Masaya gasped in surprise of Kisshu's sudden disappearance, Kisshu is then right in front of him and he punches him right in the stomach. Masaya's eyes widen in pain and blood comes gushing out of his mouth. Masaya lands on the ground, his back hitting the floor and his face facing up. Kisshu closes his eyes and takes a whiff of the scent of blood in the air. After a moment, he opens his eyes and he looks both excited and pleased. When Masaya opens his eyes, he sees Kisshu over him.

"You're not the one. How lucky for me," he notes. Masaya's eyes widen from that. "Now Blue Knight, you're going to die for all the suffering you caused me!!" He raises a fist and he got ready to punch Masaya's head right into the ground. Quickly, Masaya rolls away from the fist as it punches the ground and makes a small crater on the cement.

Masaya only had a small amount of time to rest before he felt a foot hit his side. He goes flying through the air until he crashes into a tree. His left side and the left side of his head hit the tree at full force and Masaya collapses on the ground in pain. His head aches more than his body. But besides the aching pain, the one thing he can defiantly feel is the warm, wet sensation of his blood rolling from the wound on his head. He backs away a bit and tries to deal with the pain when he feels a tongue lick some bit of his blood off his skin. Masaya looks up in surprise and he sees Kisshu looking pretty satisfied with the blood he was able to taste.

"I knew that I would enjoy the taste of your blood."

Masaya's eyes are full of surprise and horror is mixed in with them. Then Kisshu grabs the collar of his shirt and pulls him up. Masaya didn't have time to move as Kisshu moves him away from the tree before allowing him to stand up straight on solid ground. The moment Masaya's feet touched the floor, Kisshu kicks him in the stomach as hard he could. Masaya goes flying through the air again and lands on the ground this time. But when he landed, he heard three cracks from his body. Masaya didn't have time to realize that the cracks are from his newly broken ribs at his side. Kisshu too quickly grabbed his arm when he was on the ground and throws him towards the trees again. Unfortunately for Kisshu, Masaya's body missed the trees. Unfortunately for Masaya, his arm didn't miss the trees. His arm crashes into a tree and it snaps in half from the impact. When Masaya finally landed on the ground with his chest facing the ground, he yells out in pain.

"AAAAHHHH!!!" he screams in agony as he's lying on the ground. After screaming, he then tries using his good arm to hold his now distorted looking arm. He tries to bear with the pain as much as he can with tightly closed eyes and hard gritting teeth. The sweat of pain drip from his brow and his heart rate is out of control. Kisshu laughs at this wondrous scene and he claps his hands like he's enjoying a really good show.

"Wonderful!" he exclaims. "Absolutely wonderful!! I've been wanting to hear that cry for so long." Then he laughs again as now Masaya is shaking in pain. When Kisshu stopped laughing, there was no other sound but the thumping of Masaya's excited heartbeat and the sound of his own breathing. When Masaya didn't feel or hear anything from Kisshu, he got a bit confused.

Then he felt claws puncture his back and they slowly start to rise up his skin, causing greater pain. Masaya screams some more with each passing second that Kisshu slowly slashes his skin. He even continues to scream after Kisshu was done. Kisshu observes the claw marks on Masaya's back and he sees how it's gaining a blood red color on his dark tan skin. He licks his claws that are now covered in Masaya's blood clean and giggles in the pleasure they give to his body, how his throat still burns for more of it. Now Masaya is panting, his eyes wide open in pain of his arm, his head, and now his back. Then Kisshu kickes him in the side and he goes flying right back into the open park. Kisshu watches as Masaya's back hits the ground and leaves a big splatter of blood on the concrete. Masaya hits the ground several times before finally stopping near a light pole, leaving splatters where ever he landed. He didn't have time to wince or moan in pain. Kisshu's hands grab his collar immediately after he stopped bouncing on the ground and hoists him up. But only so that his back could lean on the cold metal of the light pole and he can sit. Kisshu is on his knees on the side of him

Pleased, Kisshu asks, "Do you want some more or do you want me to end your suffering now?"

Masaya looks at him with weak, pained eyes for a moment as he's trying to breathe. He can tell by Kisshu's question that he wants to see him suffer some more but he's willing to stop if Masaya pleads for his life, which will not be granted because he knows that Kisshu would just kill him anyway. Masaya suddenly glares at Kisshu with strong, undefeated eyes telling him that he will not plead for his life and to just kill already if Kisshu's going to do it. His eyes actually startled Kisshu for a bit once he saw it. He lost his smile and his eyes were wide. Then his face turned to boredom.

"Party pooper," he grumbles. Then he shrugs his shoulders and his smirk comes back on his face. "But I don't care. I was getting bored anyway." A lie Masaya can easily see. Kisshu leans a little closer to Masaya's face, his breath now ticking his skin."The humans are going to have a blast when they try to figure out how you were murdered. Blue Knight, your life will end now." But instead of an immediate action to his throat, Kisshu leans a little more to Masaya's face and his tongue greets the blood on his skin. He slowly licks the blood away and that causes Masaya to close his eyes in disgust. Kisshu is going too slow and he's enjoying this method all too much for Masaya's liking.

After the blood on his head was licked off, Kisshu's attention then goes to Masaya's neck. He leans towards it slowly, savoring the moment and Masaya closes his eyes, ready for the pain he will receive once Kisshu's fangs puncture his skin. But right before Kisshu's fangs were ready to break Masaya's skin, they heard someone screaming his name.

"KISSHU!!!!"

Ichigo.

Kisshu's open wide and they instantly change from red to gold as Masaya opens his eyes to look to the side where Ichigo be, behind Kisshu and on the opposite end of the trail that leads to the café. Kisshu quickly looks behind him as and he sees Ichigo yards away, panting and sweating from running at full speed from her house to here. Her sweat causes her light pink shirt to stick to her body and the blue thigh length socks to turn a darker shade of blue than it should look. Her yellow, white shoes appear dirty and worn out from running as fast as she could to get here and how she must have taken short cuts by looking through the forest. The only bits of clothing that don't seem sweaty or worn out from running is the black skirt with red trimmings on her hips and her dark blue jean jacket that she wears on her shoulders. At first she was looking at Kisshu but then she notices Masaya's bloody body and the damages that Kisshu created when he was using Masaya like weapon of mass destruction.

Kisshu sits up straighter and he leans away from Masaya. Noticing him, Masaya looks at him as Kisshu mumbles, "I..chi..go…"

Fearing the worst, Masaya yells, "Ichigo!! Get out of here now! He'll kill you! He's the murderer!" But it seemed like she ignored him.

Ichigo looks back at them and her eyes only caught sight of Kisshu. She didn't make any hesitation as she yells, "Kisshu, bite me!!"

Masaya's eyes widen in confusion and surprise as Kisshu's eyes widen in shock. He ends up getting away from Masaya and taking steps back so that he can turn around and face her. Masaya looks up at him when he noticed that he moved and he sees Kisshu's once blood thirty red eyes now fearful golden amber eyes he remembers.

First Kisshu shakes his head slowly and then he yells, "Are you crazy?! No!"

Ichigo looks up at the sky for a short moment before reminding him, "You're going to be taken over by your monster if you don't bite me by the time the moon comes out!" She even points to the moon hiding behind the clouds to prove her point. With how strong the wind current in the sky is, the clouds are moving a bit fast. Kisshu only has minutes before the full moon shines in all its glory and seal his fate forever. He still rejects Ichigo's command.

"I don't care!" he tells her. "Let me turn into a monster! As long as I don't hurt you, I would give up my very soul for your safety." His confession almost sounded like a love confession, causing to have a pain face on. She doesn't want him to say that let alone do that for her.

"You knew from the beginning," she mumbles. Kisshu's expression flinches when he hears that. Bingo. "You knew, didn't you?! You knew that I could be your blood! So why didn't you bite me then?"

"Because I can't control him!" he answers. "My monster is different from the ones inside Pai and Taruto! I had more blood more them and I killed more than them, three years ago and now. If I even try to bite you on my own, he would come out to stop me and then kill you without a second thought! Look what happened to Mint and Pudding and Lettuce! If I can't control myself even when I attacked those mews, what the hell makes me think that I can control myself when I'm with you?"

Ichigo stares at him with tender eyes before saying, "You're controlling him now, aren't you?" Kisshu's eyes widen again when he too realizes that. "And all I had to do is just have you look at me. So bite me before he comes out again!"

"Just shut up already!!" he finally screams. Ichigo gasps in surprise of his outburst as now the moon, from down below, is only a few centimeters away from hiding. Kisshu holds his head, like he's hiding away in shame. "You have no idea what you're asking me to do. You want me to not only hurt you but to ruin your happiness. How can you ask that of me when all I want is for you to be happy? Just leave me alone, Ichigo."

But she still didn't listen. In a spilt second, she goes into a sprint and runs to Kisshu without any care at all. He heard her and by the time he looks up at her, she's already in front of him and her arms circle around his neck so that his face could be right in front of her neck. The moment that Kisshu took a whiff of her sweet scent on her skin, he stiffens on how much he wants bite that skin and allow the blood to explode in his mouth. Masaya tenses up as well, afraid for Ichigo's well being but after she ran into Kisshu's arms, his vision begins to blur. He's losing too much blood and his eye lids feel very heavy.

After a moment pass in his arms, Ichigo is close to tears causing her voice to sound pitchy as she asks him, "How can I live a happy life when I know that you're suffering because I couldn't do anything to help you? I don't want to be happy when you're suffering." Tears started to fall down her cheek, her feelings overflowing from within her breast and are escaping through her eyes. "So you shut up and just drink already! Please." Her hold around him gets tighter and now she has her nails dig into his skin, one in his head and the other on his back. She's pleading him now and he knows that.

Kisshu's arms rise up to her and he holds her close. She can feel that he doesn't want to do this and that he deeply cares for her. Truth is, she feels the same way. She cares just as deeply about him as he does for her and she doesn't even know when it started. As the moon gets closer and closer to revealing herself from behind the clouds, Kisshu and Ichigo pull away for a bit and they both stare at each other face-to-face. Something build up inside of them when they stared at each other and to Kisshu, it wasn't thirst. He didn't hesitate to lean to her face and kiss her as that something burst inside of him. The same thing happened to Ichigo as she closed her eyes the moment his lips pressed against her in a lustful, loving kiss. She kisses him back just the same. Soon that kiss became another and that kiss became another. They kiss again and again and then the moon finally came out of hiding, showering its light on Tokyo Park and Kisshu. But they didn't stop kissing. His lips started trailing from her lips to her cheekbone, her jaw line, and then they started to go down her neck. Ichigo holds Kisshu close and she moans out in pleasure of his sweet kisses.

After giving her a few more kisses, he opens his mouth and his long fangs are revealed in open air before they puncture her skin. At first, Ichigo gasps from the pain of his fangs and from how tight his hold became to her as his nails, also, dig deep into her skin. She ends up either gripping his clothes or his hair for that small moment of pain. After the pain came more pleasure and Ichigo relaxes as Kisshu continues to drink more than just a few drops from her. She lets out a long sigh from the feeling like she's giving herself completely to him and he takes more than just a few drops like Pai and Taruto. Then the formal mews and the aliens arrived at the scene; the mews arriving after running from the café and both Pai and Taruto arrive through teleportation on the opposite end of the trail. The mews and the aliens gasp when they see Kisshu and Ichigo together and how Kisshu has his fangs in her neck.

Lettuce was the only one able to ask, "Ichigo-san?" out of fear for her dear friend.

Shortly after Lettuce spoke, Kisshu stops. He pulls his fangs out of Ichigo and he wipes away the access blood on her skin. He swallows that last bit of blood before teleporting away, leaving Ichigo behind. Her eyes widen when he suddenly disappeared and her arms are still in the same position as they were when Kisshu was still in front of her.

"Kisshu?" she calls, but he's gone. Ichigo ends up collapsing on her knees from how weak her legs became and her arms drop to her side.

"Ichigo-san!!" Lettuce calls, running to her with Pudding and Zakuro following her. Since it was okay to move, Pai and Taruto start running to Masaya who was already unconscious.

As Pudding and Lettuce were on the same level as Ichigo and Zakuro remained standing while they were checking on Ichigo, Pai and Taruto check for a pulse on Masaya. He has one but it is really, really faint. Taruto turns to the girls and yells, "Calm an ambulance!! He's still alive!!" Zakuro, hearing him, nods in his direction and instantly goes to her cell phone in her pocket.

"Ichigo onee-chan," Pudding calls. "Are you alright, na no da?"

"Ichigo-san?!"

But she doesn't answer. Her eyes look like they're far away and her hand rises up to her lips. Her fingertips gently press against it as she wonders, _'What was I doing?'_


	8. How I Know

**A/N: Finally done!! Wow, that's a lot to write.**

**Taruto: Not as much as when you were writing 'Heaven and Hell'.**

**Tsukiko: That was a while ago! It's been so long since I wrote a thirty page chapter. This one is only one third of that amount.**

**Kisshu: Well good job. I'm proud of you.**

**Tsukiko: Thanks, Kisshu-sama.**

**Kisshu: Stop with the '-sama'.**

**Tsukiko: Well quick note! After this chapter, there is still more to come and some surprise I bet that you might be really shocked about.**

**Taruto: It's called 'surprise' for a reason.**

**Tsukiko: Taruto, don't be rude. Anyway, I do NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies that I use in my stories. I only come up with the ideas and the changes. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming. I love them all and I'm glad with how much attention this story has captured. Thank you and please enjoy!!**

Ch. 8: How I Know

Everyone is in the hospital waiting room, waiting for news from Ryou about Masaya's condition. The aliens are wearing hats to hide their ears and both of them are sitting next to their bloods. Nurses and doctors pass by with either easy walking space or fast hasty pace. Each one that runs in hasty pace causes the mews to worry that something might have happened to Masaya or maybe there was another victim that has fallen to Kisshu's hungry wrath.

"Kisshu's time limit was up when the full moon light shined on him. After that, he would be an uncontrollable, hungry beast that feeds on the living blood of humans," Pai said when Lettuce first asked him if Masaya's condition went for the worst after the first hasty doctor or nurse passed them as they waited.

Lettuce then asked, "Then maybe…"

Pai answered, "I don't know. We arrived when Kisshu was feeding on Ichigo as the moon light was shining on him. If she was his blood, then she either made it in time to save him or she was too late and he was feeding on her as his first meal as a real monster. However, if that were true then he would have left Ichigo to bleed to her death, instead of stopping the bleeding. We have no way of telling until we find him again."

Lettuce looked worried after he explained that. Nearly everyone heard him, those who happened to listen like the other mews, Keiichiro, and Taruto. However, Ichigo was lost in her own world. She was still in a daze since Kisshu left her after letting her feel the touch of his lips on her lips, face, and her neck. She could still remember them so vividly. How her chest was bursting with emotion when she stared up into his eyes, how in rhythm her lips were moving with his, and how painfully wonderful his bite felt when his fangs punctured through her skin right when the moon shined on them. It was hard to get over and nearly everyone was worried on how she was acting. Some of them were wondering if she should get checked by the doctors as well.

Finally Ryou came in and Pudding was the first to notice him. Pudding jumps up from her seat and turns to him. "Ryou onii-chan!" she acknowledges. Everyone looks up when they heard her, all but Ichigo because she was still far away. Ryou didn't look like someone with the bearer of good news.

He let out a sigh and reported, "Masaya is in serious condition and he's in a coma right now from the lost of blood. The doctors and the nurses had to ask me twice if he was attacked by the blood-sucking murder or he was attacked by an animal." Those that were listening were at first surprised at the beginning and then they were looking at each other in a worried matter, the girls mostly but Pai and Taruto didn't really care much for him. Ryou had his eyes on Ichigo when he was reporting Masaya's condition and she didn't seem surprised or worried. He may not have been there when Kisshu bite her but he's sure that whatever happened, it's causing Ichigo to doze off, not worrying about her boyfriend who might die in a matter of minutes. Seeing that she's not really paying attention, Ryou adds one more thing. "However, this is a slight higher chance that he might make it."

Taruto let out, "Well if he's still like that annoying Blue Knight, then I'm not surprised." Pudding hits him in the head for that. "What was that for?!" he asks, irritated that Pudding hit him.

She yells, "How can you be so mean, na no da?! Think of how Ichigo onee-chan feels right now, na no da!!"

But he looks pass her to Ichigo and says, "Doesn't look like she's terribly depress to me." Pudding turns around to look at Ichigo as well as everyone else. She's still in dreamland.

Lettuce asks, "What on earth could have happened?"

"Whatever it was," Zakuro starts, "it's making her act weird. Weirder than when she had an encounter with Masaya or is going on a date with him."

"Indeed, na no da," Pudding agrees.

Keiichiro then turns to Pai and calls, "Pai-san!" He looks at him and Keiichiro asks, "What will become of Kisshu now? Was Ichigo-san…really his blood?"

"If she was, then I want to know how she knew," he answers. The others blink in surprise as he points out, "Why would Ichigo allow him to bite her if she didn't already know that she could be his blood? There were no other recent wounds on her body that indicate that she was cut and have spilled blood before he bit her and the marks on her neck are still healing."

Pudding suggests, "Maybe she didn't know and she just told Kisshu to bite her instead of killing Masaya onii-chan. Maybe she allowed him to bite her to save her boyfriend's life."

"Then why was she in the park?" Taruto asks. Pudding looks up at him and he reminds, "You told me that Ichigo didn't come to work and the Blue Knight was walking towards the café. I think he didn't know that Ichigo wasn't at work and from what we've witness if Kisshu even sees her, then he would return to normal. Pai and I didn't even think that she could be his blood just by that small clue. We only thought that he would revert back to his normal self because of his love for her and his strong desire to keep her safe and unharmed."

"Then she must have known," Lettuce says, getting the attention on her, "and she told him to bite her as a way to save him."

"Like how I saved Taru-taru and how Lettuce onee-chan saved Pai onii-chan?" Pudding asks. From her words, Lettuce looks down at her lap and turns beet red from the memory of Pai biting her. Pai actually looked to the side of the room when he heard that. He must be blushing as well.

"Excuse me."

The group looks up, except Ichigo, to a woman dressed in nurse clothing. Her brown hair is up in a bun and she has gentle blue eyes. She's wearing a white dress and she's holding a clip board. She asks, "You're the kids who were with Aizawa Mint, right?"

Lettuce stands up and she asks, "Is Mint-san alright?"

Ichigo look up then and the nurse nods and she gently smiles. "Mint-san is fine," she answers, "and she's awake. You're allowed to see her if you wish." Now they're surprise but Ichigo snaps her eyes wide open and she instantly pushes herself off the chair before the others. She runs past the nurse and to Mint's room.

"Ichigo onee-chan!" Pudding calls. The mews got up and they started to run after Ichigo.

The nurse yells, "Please be careful for other patients!"

"Pardon me."

The nurse looks in front of her and both Pai and Taruto are in front of her. When she sees Pai, her cheeks turn a dark crimson red. To her, Pai looks extremely handsome. He asks, "Has the press been informed?"

The nurse tries to answer, "Ah, n-no. M-Mint-san just woke up twenty minutes ago."

"I see," Pai says in response. "Then may I ask a favor of you. Can you please keep this information confined until after Mint is well enough to leave the hospital? There is a chance that she is still greatly weakened from her attack and I believe that an audience with the press and the questions they will be asking her will greatly weakened her health."

The nurse stares at him a bit longer before answering, "Y-Yes, I'll keep it a secret. I believe that it's unhealthy to talk to those annoying vultures anyway."

"I see." Pai bows to her respectfully and he says, "Thank you. You are most kind, miss."

Steam escapes her ears as she smiles with sparkles in her eyes and she says, "N-No, the pleasure is mine."

Taruto narrows his eyes at his older friend and he thinks, _'Sometimes, I see Kisshu in him in more ways than one.'_

Ichigo runs right to Mint's room and as soon as her hand twisted the knob, she slams it open. Mint, now sitting up on her bed, looks towards her way with startled eyes. Ichigo's eyes are wide in surprise of seeing Mint's chocolate brown eyes again. Mint still looks a little pale from her lack of blood but she defiantly has more color on her skin compared to how her friends saw her in the beginning. Her hair is down and Mint has a brush in her hand. She must have been in the mist of brushing her hair. There are few needles still inside of her, one of them being connected to a bag of blood. Still that didn't matter to Ichigo. The only thing that did was the fact that Mint is awake and her dark brown eyes relax and return back to her snobbish ones.

"Before you just barge in here, rudely, next time knock," she tells Ichigo as she continues to brush her messy, tangled hair. She didn't say anything at first. She only stared at Mint. Even Mint noticed that. She looks up and stops her brushing for a moment. She asks, "Ichigo? What are you doing just standing there?"

That was when the other mews and the aliens arrive behind Ichigo. Mint is surprise to see her friends as they are more surprise and relieve to see her awake. Basically, they have their eyes wide with surprise and Lettuce is covering her mouth as tears are starting to leak out from the corner of her eyes. But as Mint is surprise to see her friends, when she sees Pai and Taruto, she's shocked.

"The aliens?" she wonders, lowering her brush. "Why are they here? What exactly is going on?"

But before she could get an answer, Ichigo springs towards her. "Mint!!" she calls, before collapsing on the side of the bed and breaking down crying. Mint did tense up and became a bit cautious when Ichigo suddenly ran to her but when she collapsed on the side of her bed and started crying, her nerves calmed down to surprise. Ichigo whines, "Thank god you're okay!" Then she starts crying again.

Mint kept her eyes on her crying friend before her. Ichigo must have been really worried about Mint and now she feels so relieved that Mint's awake and okay now. After a few minutes, her eyes narrow a bit. Then her hand goes to Ichigo's head and starts petting it. She didn't look up but Mint tells her, "I'm fine now so stop crying like I'm already dead."

Still the same snobbish girl and that was a big relief on all of them.

Shortly after that, Ichigo started to calm down her tears. When she was able to talk, Mint asked what happened and they all decided to explained to her everything that has happened. They have to close the door first to keep people from listening in and they told Mint about the alien's vampire bat DNA condition, the accident that set Kisshu off to become a blood sucking monster, the close calls for Taruto and Pai, how they can be cured, and what just happened earlier today between Ichigo and Kisshu. Of course, Pai and Taruto explained since they're the experts on the subject, but them explaining means that Ichigo didn't explain how she knew that she might be Kisshu's blood. She was silent during the whole thing, sitting next to Mint.

After they were done explaining, Mint looked surprised and amazed. "Wow," was basically the only thing she could say after hearing all of this. "To think that I was unconscious the whole time it happened. Now I understand why Kisshu wasn't himself when he attacked me."

Pudding asks, "You knew it was Kisshu onii-chan?"

Mint nods. "Yeah. I felt like I was being followed and when I turned around, I saw red eyes and sharp fangs coming out of the darkness. I started to run but he appeared before me. That was when I saw his face. I will admit that I was confused about him being here and looking at me like a plate of delectable food, but it was the deep hunger in his eyes that made me run again. One moment I was running, the next I was hit somewhere on my body. I still tried to run and he kept hitting me to keep me from running. I think he soon got tired of it because he just pounced on me and bit my neck." Her hand rises up to her neck where her puncture wounds should be. "It hurt so bad. It was the worst pain I have ever felt, even when I was a Mew Mew. No pain could match up to his bite. What happened next was all a blur. I couldn't scream for help and the pain was starting to numb my body. It didn't take long for me to fall unconscious. I thought I was done for and next thing I know, I wake up in a hospital bed."

Then Zakuro tells her, "The press knows who you are and how you are one of the very few survives of the blood-sucking murder, from what they know. They don't know about Pudding, Lettuce, or Ichigo. They are most likely to ask you a few questions about what happened."

Pai then adds, "I was able to ask the nurse to keep the press away from you until you are ready to leave. Before that time, we need to make up a story for you to tell the press."

"No worries," Mint tells them like it's no big deal. "I'll just tell them that I couldn't see his face and that I was taken by surprise. It all happened too fast for me to progress. Can't do anything when your witness didn't get a good visual of her killer."

Taruto thinks, _'This girl acts like she's got the press and the police wrapped around her fingers.'_

Then Ryou looks at Pai and reminds, "Not to forget that Masaya is another survivor. For the moment he's too weak to talk, or even too weak to wake up." This time when Ryou mentions Masaya, Ichigo's face is instantly covered with guilt and she grips the ends of her skirt. Mint sees that at the corner of her eyes. She sees how the mention of Masaya is hurting her dear friend.

Since she could only reach the head, Mint places her hand on Ichigo's head and Ichigo looks up from her touch. Mint smiles in reassurance and tries to say, "Don't be so down, Ichigo. Masaya will be healthy and back to his smiling face before you can blink." She can tell that Mint's trying to cheer her up and it made her more guilty because now it feels like she's deceiving her friends.

"It's not that," she mumbles, looking down at the ground. Mint pulls her hand back in surprise and Ichigo grips her skirt even more. "I just feel really guilty right now because it feels like I just betrayed him."

Now that was confusing to all.

Lettuce asks, "Why is that?" It's time to tell them and she knows it.

Ichigo lets out a sigh to calm her nerves and she looks back up at everyone before explaining her part of the story. "For the past few days, possibly since this all started, I was having these strange dreams. I didn't understand them at first. It wasn't a visual dream with weird events happening before my eyes. It was just total darkness and I heard music playing. It was like having my eyes closed while listening to a song on my iPod but just one song took up the entire night and I only heard one song. They lyrics stood out greatly and today, I wrote them all down. Since they began to appear when Kisshu started killing, I figured that maybe they have a specific meaning to them. I wrote all of the lyrics like I've remembered them all by heart and there were some verses that stood out. When I highlighted them, I started to think that they were messages from Kisshu."

Pai looked deeply curious about these songs that Ichigo's been hearing. He asks her, "May we seem them, Ichigo?"

She nods. "Of course but they're on my desk in my bedroom."

Taruto steps forward and says, "Then I'll teleport you to your room and we get them without your parent's finding out, alright?" Again Ichigo nods.

She stands up and answers, "Alright."

Taruto walks over to her and grabs her wrist. They instantly started to teleport from Mint's hospital room to Ichigo's bedroom. When she saw the familiar surroundings of her room, Ichigo didn't hesitate to walk over to her desk as quietly as she can and gather her notes. She first makes sure that they are all here and they're in order before straightening up the pile. Then she walks back to Taruto. He grasps her wrist again and teleports back to the hospital before either of Ichigo's parents noticed. As soon as they arrive, Ichigo walks over to Pai and she hands him her notes. Taruto and Ryou walk closer to Pai and they look at Ichigo's notes as Pai skims through them. The more they red, the more surprise they became. They look up at Ichigo with a look that says they're surprise that Ichigo was able to figure out all of this. It was like she just figured out the biggest part of the puzzle.

Before they could speak, Pudding steps forward and asks, "Then what happened, Ichigo onee-chan?"

Ichigo looks at her and answers, "Then I just put two and two together. It became clear to me that I could be Kisshu's blood type and he knew that I could be. But he didn't want me to end up like Mint or any of his other victims so he didn't try to bite me. When it was close to sunset, I got my jacket and ran to the park as fast I could. I was already too late when I saw the damages Kisshu did to Masaya. But instead of telling to get off my boyfriend, I told him to bite me. He told me no but I kept pushing it. Then…" Before she could speak, her cheeks turn a deep color of red and her hand rises up to her lips, gently pressing the tips of her fingers against her lips. But her cheeks were not red of embarrassment, they became red out of the memory of what happened next. She started to look like she was back in her daze when she said the next part. "Then he kissed me and I kissed him back." Now everyone is defiantly surprised. She kissed Kisshu back?! "Then the full moon shined on us and he bit me."

Everyone was still basically shocked that Ichigo told them that she kissed Kisshu when she's supposed to be faithful to someone else! Especially since she kissed another guy in front of her boyfriend. This was something that no one could get over quickly.

When Ichigo looks up at her friends, she sees their completely shocked faces and she asks, "Guys, what's wrong?" They didn't answer. How could they?

When she didn't get an answer, she turns to Pai and asks, "Is Kisshu cured? He drank my blood."

Snapping out of his trance, Pai takes a moment before answering, "I don't know. You said that he bite you when the full moon was already shining on you both. There is a good chance that you made it but there is also a good chance that you were too late. We won't know until he shows himself to us."

Then visiting hours were over. A nurse knocked on the door and they permitted her to enter. It was the same nurse from before and she told them that she was sorry but they had to leave. Pai decided to keep Ichigo's notes to study them a little more and everyone said good night to Mint and that they hope that she gets a speedy recovery now that she's awake. Pai even said goodnight to the nurse to be gracious and she instantly blew up into steam. Now that there is a chance that Kisshu has been cured, or he hasn't but he still had his full of blood for the night, no one feared the dark anymore. They said goodnight to each other and went on their ways home. When Ichigo arrived home, she got the greeting of the life time.

"MOMOMIYA ICHIGO!!!" her father screams. Ichigo pretended to ignore her furious father as she starts to take her shoes off.

Then her mom comes in and yells, "Do you have any idea how worried we were? We called you a dozen times but you never answered and we looked everywhere for you! You're lucky that we didn't call the police, young lady!" Ichigo ignores her too as she puts her shoes away properly.

Her father yells, "I bet that you went running off to be with that boyfriend of yours!! I thought I told you not to go on anymore dates because it's so dangerous out there now! You are grounded, you hear me?!! G-r-o-u-n-d-e-d!!"

Then Ichigo's mom grabs her husband's ear and pulls on it. "Alright, I think she gets the message."

"I'm sorry, mom, dad," Ichigo tells them in a soft and gentle voice. Surprised to hear that coming from their daughter instead of a whining load voice, they turn to look at her, Ichigo's mom releasing her husband's ear, and they're surprise by how fragile and tired Ichigo looks now. She tells them, "I'm sorry for just leaving like that, but I just got news that Mint is awake in the hospital."

"She's finally awake?" her mom asks in surprise. Now even her dad is surprise as well.

Ichigo nods. "Yes, but Masaya also became a victim." Her parents gasp in surprise of this as their daughter explains, "We don't know if he'll make it or not but there is a higher chance that he might, but it's very small." After that, Ichigo begins to head for the stairs up to her room. Before she went up, she turns around and tells them, "Today's been a long day and I'm really tired. Can I just go to bed now?"

Her mom gazes at her daughter with sympathy in her eyes and she nods. "Sure, sweetheart."

Ichigo nods in appreciation. "Thank you. Goodnight." Then she walks up the stairs.

"Goodnight!" they both answer.

When Ichigo arrives up to the second floor, she goes to her room to get what she needs to bath. But inside her room, she looks at the window and she sees nothing. Then she looks at her desk and she finds it unbelievably empty. She knows that she gave her notes to Pai but seeing her naked desk looked weird. She went to bathe. There in the tub full of hot water, she thought about what happened today. How suddenly it all changed. She was acting like her normal self when she was trying to figure out the pieces she was given and then she acts like she's not really there after being kissed by Kisshu. Now all she wants is to see him. For some reason, she just wants to see Kisshu and him alone. She wants to touch his skin, feel his warmth, and melt in his arms.

After her bath, Ichigo got into her pj's and got ready for bed– brush her hair, brush her teeth, and put her dirty laundry away. When Ichigo looked in the mirror, it surprised her a bit when she saw how much her bite wound healed. It's barely visible now and that's probably a good thing but she doesn't want it to go away. This whole day felt like a dream and her notes and her bite were the only things that were proof that it happened. That's why her desk looked weird. Now with the notes being with Pai and her bite marks disappearing, how is there going to be any proof that tonight happened when she wakes up in the morning?

Then it was time for bed and she heads back inside her room. Once Ichigo closed the door to her room, she only stood there with her hand still on the knob. Then she leans her head on the door and her body quivers a bit. She mumbles, "What do I do now? Kisshu…" She looks up like she's waiting for an answer or any form of help from high up above, but there is none. Just her white ceiling and the glare of her bedroom light. Ichigo looks back down and switches the light off before turning around and walking to her bed to retire. She lies down and puts the covers over her to fall to sleep. She was so tired that the minute she closes her eyes, she was out.

She still had another musical dream: _Imperfection__ from Skillet_.

However minutes after she fell asleep, her window opens. From the outside, someone slides the window open a bit and first peaks his head in to see Ichigo sleeping soundly on her bed. From the light of the full moon, Kisshu's dark emerald green hair glistens in its light and his white skin glows in the darkness. Seeing that she's asleep, he opens the window more and flouts in. Without a single foot touching the ground, he goes to Ichigo's bed and carefully sits down besides her.

Gazing down at her, he sees how her long, full eye lashes lay gently against her skin like feathers. His hand gently touches her hair, feeling how soft it is, like clouds and he can smell the strong scent of her strawberry shampoo coming from it. He could only imagine what it would be like if his hand gets lost in her beautiful hair. When he looks at her soft pink lips, he feels almost drawn to them, wanting to give it as many kisses he can. As he stares down at her silhouette, he desires to hold it. Hold it against him and keep it closer to him, never wanting to let go or give her to anyone. The one thing that really pushed him to the edge was the touch of her skin when his hand slips from her hair and he touches it. Like he's noticing it for the first time, he stares at it and admires how beautiful it looks. That one touch sent shivers down his spin and he can feel that same feeling he felt when he kissed her earlier this evening. Soon his eyes travel down to her neck and he can only imagine the blood pulsing through her veins. Her sweet, innocent, delicious blood…

When Kisshu opened his mouth, long white fangs appear. He then leans over Ichigo's body with both hands leaning on the bed for support, one at the edge of the bed and the other near her head. He leans closer and closer to her neck, his fangs extended and his throat burning with thirst. It could be so easy. If he does it right, he can easily bite her without waking up. She can still listen to her strange musical dreams and he can take her blood greedily. He was only inches away from taking that bite. Yet, he stopped himself when he nearly broke her skin with his fangs. He just stopped. She didn't say anything and nothing passed by his mind that could distract him like a memory of her calling him or anything. It was simply self control.

Kisshu pulls away a bit and stares down at her neck. Then he leans again but he simply gives Ichigo a sweet and gentle kiss on her neck. Feeling the veins pulse underneath the skin his lips press against wasn't helping his control but he has to control himself.

After he kissed her, he slowly and easily gets off the bed but he kneels down besides it this time. Her hand is sticking out from under the covers so he takes it. He grasps it with two hands and brings it his lips to give the hand a sweet and gentle kiss as well.

"Ichigo…" he calls like a whisper. She does not stir but he didn't seem to mind. He simply tells her, "Thank you."


	9. What Am I Doing?

**A/N: I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while!! I have been very, very busy! At my school, I had study hall one semester and the next semester it's replaced with PE. I was trying to catch up on homework and next thing I knew, my mom is screaming at me to go to bed already. Oh well.**

**Kisshu: You're updating now so that's all that matters.**

**Tsukiko: Thanks, Kisshu-sama. Anyway, you might like the ending of this chapter. –wink-**

**Kisshu: -Reads script- Whoa! Yeah, I'm gonna like this.**

**Taruto: -flaming red- Well I might not!! How could you make me do this?**

**Tsukiko: It's what happens. Now no complaining. You're not the writer here.**

**Taruto: One day, I might quite.**

**Kisshu: Then we'll let that Yuebin guy pair up with Pudding.**

**Taruto: Oh hell no!!**

**Tsukiko: I do NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies I used in my stories. I only come up with the changes and the ideas for them. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews so far and please keep them coming. You can even complain on why I was taking so long. I'm sorry. Thank you and please enjoy!!**

Ch. 9: What Am I Doing?

It's been a week and things have been getting a bit weird at the café. There was the fact that Ichigo is always in a daze, even at school and at home. She also has a gloomy aura around her, as if her once happy, cheerful presence that warmed everyone's heart to the fullest has disappeared, never to return. If they didn't know about what happened between her and Kisshu, they would think it's because Masaya hasn't woken up yet. His chances of surviving have gone up a bit but he's still unconscious and the doctors are doing everything they can to keep him alive. Mint is to remain in the hospital for another week or two, depending on how confident the doctors feel that Mint should leave. Right now, her blood pressure is still lower than normal and she gets tired really easily.

Besides that, Lettuce, Pai, and Zakuro have noticed something weird happening between Pudding and Taruto.

_Cling_

Taruto looks down at the ground and he sees a yen on the ground. He picks it up and turns around to see Pudding walking away. "Hey, Pudding!"

She turns around and asks, "Uh? What, na no da?"

"You dropped this, I think," he tells her, showing her the yen. She looks at his palm and she sees the palm lying on his palm.

Soon, she smiles and walks towards him. She picks up the yen and looks up at him to say, "Thank you, na no da." But as soon as she looks up into his eyes, they became lock. Taruto's eyes widen for a moment as Pudding's smile fades away. They stared at each other for the longest time before Taruto begins to examining her, like she's a piece of juicy meat. She blushes for a bit when he examines her and she looks to the side before looking back up at him, looking as innocent as she can possibly be.

Watching them is Lettuce, Zakuro, and Pai. Pai is standing behind Lettuce, watching with his arms crossed in front of his chest, Lettuce has a broom in her hands, and Zakuro has her arms crossed in front of her chest as well. Ichigo is there too but she just has a gloomy aura around her as she's sweeping the same area for the fiftieth time.

Pai asks, "Chubby aren't they?"

Lettuce looks up at Zakuro and asks, "Do you think that maybe they have a crush on each other?"

Zakuro answers, "I believed they had a crush on each other even before now. They're only now taking it to the next level."

Lettuce turns to both Pudding and Taruto and she gently smiles. She says, "I hope that they're happy together, especially after everything that's happened."

Being reminded of that, Pai turns around behind him and he sees gloomy Ichigo sweeping. "Ichigo!" he calls. Lettuce and Zakuro turn around as Ichigo slowly looks up at Pai.

"Yes?" she answers.

He points over his shoulder to Taruto and Pudding and Ichigo looks up at them. When she sees Pudding and Taruto, they're still staring at each other. Possibly lost in their own little world together. When Ichigo looks at them, she felt reminded of Kisshu. It only made her more gloomy. She looks away and speaks a little louder, "I think that Taruto is ready to eat Pudding and she's more than willing to let him devour her." Taruto and Pudding heard her and both of them turn red in embarrassment, realizing that there are other people here and are probably watching them, which they are.

Pudding turns around and announces, "So much cleaning to do, na no da! Gotta get on it, na no da!" Then she walks away, trying to run away from that as Taruto is looking the other way, scratching the back of his head from the awkward moment.

Lettuce turns back to Ichigo and says, "Ichigo-san, you didn't have to be so mean."

Ichigo doesn't look back up at her but she says, "I just don't want them to start something here before the day is out. They can do it on their own time."

'_In other words, they are allowed to do what they want just not in front of her,'_ Zakuro and Pai think watching Ichigo sweeping again.

"Ichigo," Pai calls. Ichigo stops again and looks over her shoulder to look up at him. He asks her, "You wouldn't happen to have any more song dreams, would you?"

Sadly, she looks down at the ground and answers, "I'm sorry, but no. The last song I had was the one on the night he bit me. I haven't had one since." When Lettuce and Zakuro hear this, they both couldn't help but look at her in sympathy. She's really worried about him. Then realizing something, Ichigo looks up at Pai with hope-filled eyes and walks up to him. In front of him, she asks, "Has there been any news of him? Is he alright?"

To her disappointment, he shakes his head as a 'no'. "There is none," he answers. "If Kisshu were to feed on someone or his vampire side became active, our radar would go off and tell us."

Pai and Taruto mentioned about how they found Kisshu right when he was going to eat someone or he was in the midst of eating someone. They have a radar that has a sample of Kisshu's DNA from a long time ago. However, the DNA they have is the one that they were able to contain when Kisshu was his vampire state. It can only be active if Kisshu would every thirst for the blood of humans. But like Pai just answered, the radar has not been active since Kisshu attacked Masaya and bit Ichigo.

Hearing his answer, Ichigo looks back down at the ground. "Oh I see." Then she goes back to her gloomy phase as she sweeps the floor. Zakuro and Pai only stare but Lettuce looks sympathetic.

She reminds, "Not to forget that since there have been no killings, the police are getting frustrated and the press becomes more and more antsy."

XxX

"We're done, na no da!" Pudding cheers, putting her uniform away.

Lettuce smiles as cheerful as she can as she says, "Good job today, everyone."

As Ichigo slowly folds her uniform, she has a dark cloud over head as replies, "Good job." Now it feels like a thunderstorm is inside the dressing room. Both Lettuce and Pudding have a sweat drop on their heads as Zakuro is just calmly putting her shirt on before putting her work uniform away.

Then Pudding looks up at the clock and freaks out.

"Ah!! I have to hurry, na no da!!" she yells, panicking. Quickly she grabs her purse and closes her locker.

"Pudding-san," Lettuce calls while Pudding is doing this. "Is something wrong?"

She doesn't answer or slow down her movements. She simply runs out the door the moment her locker is closed shut. "Bye, na no…DA!!!"

_Crash_

Hearing the crash, the girls, meaning Zakuro and Lettuce, rush to the door to peak outside. Right before their eyes they see both Pudding and Taruto on the ground wincing in pain. Taruto is rubbing his throbbing head as Pudding is rubbing her sore butt. When she looks up at sees Taruto, she gasps in surprise.

"Taru-Taru?! Are you alright?"

Taruto looks up at her and answers, "I should be asking you the same thing. Where are you going in such a rush?"

She answers, "I have to go to the store and get groceries for dinner for my siblings or they'll be cranky when they don't get served dinner, na no da."

"Oh, I see," he says. "Then shall I go with you and help?"

"Uh?" Pudding looks at him with a curious expression and blinking eyes. Zakuro is surprise to see this as Lettuce turns red from the scene. It almost sounds like he just asked her to a date!

Finally noticing them, Taruto looks up behind Pudding and sees Lettuce and Zakuro. Pudding, noticing Taruto's gaze, looks up as well. Being caught, Zakuro simply hides away back into the dressing room as Lettuce tenses up before hiding. That made Taruto a bit red and Pudding extremely red.

Taruto rubs the back of his head before asking, "So can I?"

Pudding looks back up at him and answers, "Y-Yeah, sure, na no da."

After that…

Taruto is on the couch, completely exhausted.

"How the heck can you handle those little monsters?!!" he asks, groaning on the couch. All Pudding could do is laugh at his behavior.

"Pudding's surprise that Taru-Taru cannot handle kids, na no da. It's funny, na no da." Then she lets happy, innocent laughter ring out from her lips. Taruto looks up a bit and instead of getting angry at her for her laughter and comment, he only stares at her and allows her to have her moment. God, she's cute!

Taruto accompanied Pudding to the groceries store and he helped with carrying most of them when they left. As soon as they arrived at Pudding's house, her little siblings attacked Pudding and welcomed her home. All Taruto could think when he saw them was that they are defiantly related to Pudding. When they asked about him, Pudding had to say that he's her friend who came to help her take care of them and he was born deformed, thus meaning his ears. A vein was pulsing on Taruto's head but he didn't have time to get angry because her siblings 'attacked' him and greeted him to the Fong house. After that, both Pudding and Taruto played 'mommy' and 'daddy' to Pudding's siblings. They cooked the food as quickly as they could, fed the little ones, cleaned up, and played with them. But what they mean by 'cleaned up' and 'played with them', Taruto was the one playing with the kids because they wanted to get to know him better and Pudding was the only one cleaning up and laughing in the background when the kids decided to play 'Princess and Dragon' with Taruto as the princess and then as the dragon. By the time Pudding was done cleaning, Taruto looked like he was going to pass out so she send her siblings upstairs to get ready for bed. She gave Taruto a break as she went upstairs to help them bath. When she came down, cleaned as well, her siblings are brushing their teeth before going to bed and Taruto is still on the couch, which leads to now.

"I kind of admire you, Pudding," Taruto tells her. Pudding stops her laughs and giggles and she looks at him curiously. He sits up and looks up at her right in the face with only the arm rest to stand between them. "You've been doing this every night by yourself, right? It just amazes me that you still have energy to burn to take care of them after working in the café all day."

Pudding turns a bit red from Taruto's words as she looks to the side, now fiddling with her yellow nightgown. "W-Well, I have to, na no da. Papa is still in China and I don't have a mama anymore, na no da. But that's okay, na no da. I have to be strong for them and I have to work at the café to get money for dinner and such, na no da."

"Well you are strong," Taruto says, making her look at him. "That's what I admire most about you."

Now the blush on Pudding's face deepens and she can feel her heart pounding harder and harder in her chest just by looking into his golden eyes. It's strange. She never felt like this before until now. What has changed that would cause Pudding's heart to react in such a way and for Taruto to actually start acting a bit…mature.

Quickly, she looks down to avoid her gave and to regain her composer.

"Well, uh, what do you want to do now, na no da?" she asks. "I don't have to go to bed for a another hour and everyone is already asleep, na no da. I know, na no da! Let's play some more, na no da. But we can play board games or playing cards so that you won't be so tired, na no da."

"Actually," Taruto grabs Pudding's wrist and she looks up at him again. Then he pulls her to him. She only had a split second to register what just happened. By then, they both are lying on the couch with Pudding on top of him. As she looks down at him in wide, surprise eyes, he's staring up at her with gentle, loving eyes. "I believe I have a better idea," he finishes. Before she knew it, he leans up towards her and his lips press against hers.

To Pudding, it was a surprise she did not see coming. Especially the feelings she started to feel the moment their lips touched. She suddenly felt joy and a warm, blessed feeling inside of her that just burst out, now coursing through her veins. Then shortly after the joy and the warmth, there came the fiery flames of passion. It was weird. One moment, Pudding was surprise beyond compare and the next, she's kissing him back as if it was natural. She closes her eyes and kisses Taruto back in response with her heart leaping for joy and her body moving automatically. First her hands, after he let her wrist go, smoothes its way to his face and she cups it as his arms wrap around her, holding her close and deepening the kiss.

Then he stops it. When they broke away for a breath of air, Pudding wanted to continue kissing him, but his arms wouldn't let her. She soon looks at him with daze, glossy eyes and he's staring up at her with similar eyes but with a hint of conscious in them. He tells her, "I love you, Pudding. I've loved you ever since you cried for me the day I left. Like those tears, my heart fell with them."

Slowly, some common sense came back to Pudding. She looks down at him from his words, until a small smile appears on her face. "At least you kept your promise of coming back, na no da." That causes him to smile at him this time.

One of Taruto's arms move and Pudding looks to the side to see Taruto going to his pocket. What he takes out is a yellow plastic wrap candy drop. She was surprise to see it as Taruto lifts it up to show her. He tells her, "This is the last one that you gave me. You gave me about ten and I ate one for each day that happened between us." Now she's a bit confused. He can see that. "One for when we first met, one for when we were both underground when I captured you," both of them giggled at that reminder, "and one for when we had to say goodbye." He pauses. With his fingers, he unwraps the candy drop and pops it into his mouth. At first, she became confused. Until he cups her cheek and pulls her to him. They kiss again and she can feel the sweet, lemon flavor of the candy mixing with his taste. Then he passes her the candy, just like how she passed him the candy drop three years ago.

The kiss didn't stop there and they didn't sleep with each other. It was a lot better.

They kiss again and again, not stopping and not slowing down either. He kissed her face as she kisses his. His teeth gently nibbles on his bottom lip for permission to enter and she opens her mouth a little wider for his tongue to enter her mouth. As their tongues battle for dominance, he wraps his arms around her to keep her close, never wanting to let go as she does the same. Then it was time for his lips to move. His lips kiss their way down from her lips to her chin to her throat to her neck. With every kiss, Pudding lets out a small moan of pleasure, enjoying his kisses to full extent. Then he stop but for only a moment.

Taruto opens his eyes and their red. He opens his mouth and long, canine fangs appear. Within a split second, he bites her neck, her blood then exploding in his mouth. Pudding gasps when she feels the pain and she winces from it. Her hold on him gets tighter from the pain so that she can handle it as he does the same, almost crushing her.

But with that pain also came pleasure. After that short amount of pain, there was pure pleasure. Pudding couldn't help but giggle for one short moment before gasping in pain again. Beads of sweat started to form on her face and roll down to soak her clothes to her body. Taruto didn't let a single drop of blood drip. He sucked it all, swallowing her sweet blood as if it were the water of life. It is the water of life, to him anyway.

Soon it was over. Taruto's fangs release her and he licks the wound to not only stop the bleeding but to remove the smears of blood on the skin. He only took a little and that was just fine. The ride was great. As Taruto lays back down on the couch and Pudding looks down at him, sweaty and tired, his hand goes to her hair and he allows his fingers to get hopelessly lost in her golden locks.

In a voice that was hardly a whisper, he says, "You will be the end of me, Pudding. I'm gonna have to ask Pai about that later."

Pudding has a small smile on her face as she shakes her head and tells him, "It's alright, na no da." Then she kisses him and he returns the affection. A sweet and simple kiss was shared this time.

"Pudding onee-chan?"

Both Pudding and Taruto opens their eyes in shock of hearing that as Pudding pushes herself up. She looks over the couch to see a tired Heicha who's rubbing her eye as Taruto stays down, hoping that Heicha doesn't see him.

Heicha asks, "Where's Taru-Taru onii-chan, na no da?"

Now Pudding is starting to panic.

"Uh…Taru-Taru is…" She looks down at Taruto for some kind of help and he places his hands together and lays it under the side of his face. She got the idea. "Asleep, na no da!" she finishes, looking back up at her little sister. She tries to be her cheerful happy self as she gets off Taruto and off the couch. "He was so tired from playing with you that he fell asleep on the couch, na no da. I was just checking on him, na no da."

"On top of him, na no da?" her sister asks, tiredly. Geeze. This kid is smart.

Pudding is a little nervous as she tries to say, "W-Well…uh…I w-was just…giving him a hug for all that he's done, na no da. Now then," she goes up to Heicha and asks, "why don't we go to bed, okay na no da?"

"Only if onee-chan reads me a story, na no da!"

"Alright then, na no da." Pudding gently pets her little sister's head and turns her around to send her off. But as Heicha goes up the stairs, Pudding stops to look back at the couch. Taruto pushes himself up and looks at her. The sight of him causes a smile to appear on Pudding's face. "I'll come back with a blanket for you, na no da."

Taruto smiles back at her. That's enough for one night.

"Alright then."

"Oh, and Taru-Taru?"

"Yeah?"

Pudding puts on the gentlest smile and the warmest eyes she can create and she says words from the bottom of her heart. "I love you too, na no da." She turns around and catches up with her sister. Taruto smiles, even though Pudding's already gone.

XxX

Ichigo slides the door of her window open and she looks out into the dark night sky. The cold wind of the night enter her room, hitting her first and causing her sleep clothes to flap about her body. Outside, the moon is so bright, almost enough to replace the sun at night. But as she's looking out, she's not looking at the beauty of the night or caring about the chill of the night.

"Kisshu?" she calls, almost pleading. But there is no answer. Only the silence of the sleeping creatures, resting for the new day tomorrow.

Disappointed, Ichigo lets out a sigh and then turns around to walk away so that she may turn off the lights in her room and go to sleep. Her room is too hot anyway so she'll leave the windows open.

"Ichigo."

Ichigo stops walking immediately and instantly turns back around to the window. There on the branch of a tree not too far from her window is Kisshu. He sits there, leaning to the window so that he can be close. He looks at her with loving, almost pleading eyes, his golden amber eyes and she stares at him in shock. Then almost like she's hypnotize, she begins walking back to the window slowly. But at the last steps few, she rushes to the window. He reaches for her, asking for her hand and she grasps his reaching hand.

As Kisshu pulls her closer, she breathes out, "You're here," sounding relieved. But instead of a reply, Kisshu leans towards her and his lips pressed against her, greedily. She didn't reject, she only accepted. She kissed him back, returning the affection as passion bursts within her body and now coursing through her veins.

Both of them kiss again and again, enjoying the taste and begging for more. They still grasp the other's hand as Ichigo's free hand goes to his face and she uses her fingers to comb through his silky, emerald hair. His free hand goes to her face as well and he starts stroking her cheek. His touch, her touch, his taste, her taste…all too irresistible for either of them to deny. Oh how they missed this. Then like last time, his lips begin to move. His lips travel down to her chin, her jaw line, and then her neck. Her head leans back and her eyes are still closed. She lets out moans of pleasure as he starts to kiss the area where he bit her. She already knows what he's going to do.

"Yes," she breathes out. "Go right ahead."

He still didn't say anything. He only opens eyes and his mouth to reveal his red eyes and his already extended canines. He gets ready to bite into her flesh again to drink her sweet, delicious blood when there was a knock at the door.

_Knock_

_Knock_

Kisshu stops and both of them look at the door, startled that the knocking interrupted them. Then they hear, "Ichigo? Are you going to bed?" It's her mom.

Quickly, Ichigo pulls her hands away and rushes to the door, leaving Kisshu at the window. She leans close to the door to answer, "Yes in just a minute."

"Alright," her mom answers, her voice sounds like she's smiling. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Ichigo waits as she hears the sound of her mother's footsteps leading away from her door and down the hall. Once she was gone, Ichigo turns off the lights and turns around to the window. She was expecting to see Kisshu there, waiting for her but he's not there anymore. Confused and starting to panic, Ichigo walks towards the window and sticks half of her body out to look for him. Like before, there is no sign of him.

"Kisshu?" she calls, softly not to give her parent's any suspicion. "Where are you? Kisshu?" But like before, there is no answer and that same disappointment comes back, only a lot worst as it pulses through her veins. She turns around, still leaving the window open and she walks to her bed.

However behind a tree, Kisshu is there in midair and his back against the trunk of the tree. He raises his hand and his fingertips gently touch his lips, her taste still lingering on them. They feel so warm like he just had his lips pressing against a hot cup of tea.

"Ichigo…" he mumbles softly so that Ichigo couldn't hear.

Ichigo didn't lie on her bed just yet. She's sitting on the edge of her bed and she's looking down at her feet in thought. She too raises her hand to her lips and she can still feel the fiery warmth of passion she received when his lips where pressed against hers. But instead of calling his name just yet. She was wondering one more thing.

'_What am I…doing?'_

"…Kisshu."


End file.
